Omloop Het Nieuwsblad delivered an Opening Weekend efficiency that boded nicely for a powerful Classics displaying from AG2R Citroën in 2022, with each Greg Van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen within the prime 4, although it actually wasn’t a efficiency that carried by means of to the E3 Saxo Financial institution Basic on Friday. The group not solely fell out of the highest 10 on the race for the primary time since 2016 however had been additionally utterly absent from the highest 20 after lacking the principle strikes.
It was way back to 80km from the end line that the race to Harelbeke was all however over for the French squad. Firstly none of their jerseys had been seen within the small group that eventual race winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) drove off the entrance with a robust acceleration on the cobbled climb of the Taaienberg. Then the group additionally failed to affix the handful of riders that bridged from the chase to that entrance group after Ineos Grenadiers charged up the cobbled Eikenberg, establishing Jhonatan Narváez to spark a transfer which crossed the hole.
“It was not possible to comply with the highest fifteen of the day immediately.” AG2R Citroën sports activities director Julien Jurdie mentioned in an announcement. “There are days when the legs simply don’t reply.”
Final 12 months the group had each Naesen and Van Avermaet within the chase group of six which came visiting the road 30 seconds behind race winner Kasper Asgreen, with the AG2R Citroën riders taking fourth and sixth.
This 12 months Jumbo-Visma’s Van Aert and teammate Christophe Laporte claimed the 2 prime steps of the rostrum, coming over the road greater than one-and-a-half minutes forward of their nearest rivals after attacking from the lead group on the Paterberg. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) attacked from the chase group to take the ultimate spot on the rostrum.
Six minutes after the race winner had crossed the road the primary AG2R Citroën rider, Naesen, arrived in twenty first place. It’s the solely time in his 5 race begins on the race that the Belgian has completed out of the highest 8. The end result got here after Naesen had entered with some query marks over kind as flu pressured him to desert Paris-Good. Nonetheless, within the lead as much as the race the rider had mentioned he hoped to be within the main group once more this 12 months.
Damien Touzé and Van Avermaet had been the subsequent greatest positioned riders from the group, rolling in with a big group simply behind Naesen. Touzé was thirty fifth and Van Avermaet, who received the race in 2017 and has additionally been on the rostrum in three different editions, was forty second.
Jurdie mentioned whereas the preliminary objectives for the group had been excessive on the race – which is also called the mini Tour of Flanders – sadly the day didn’t go as anticipated.
“We nonetheless have some nice occasions to do between now and the Ronde van Vlaanderen We’re going to place our heads again collectively. We’ll recuperate nicely … could the boys neglect at the present time,” mentioned Jurdie in an interview shared on social media.
“We must increase our heads and present one other face on Sunday, in Gent-Wevelgem,” the sports activities director added in an announcement. ”The squad is sweet and it’s essential to bounce again for the remainder of the Flanders marketing campaign.”
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