Omloop Het Nieuwsblad podium history | 1997 edition | 1999 edition

Ghent-Lokeren, 202 km / 39.350 km/hr
187 starters / 82 classified finishers

Peter van Petegem wins his second Omloop Het Volk

The race: It was a very cold February day in Ghent when the race started.

From the gun the attacks went off. And it wasn't just a bunch of no-hopers trying to get a little TV time and a mention in the papers. Peter van Petegem, Johan Museeuw Stuart O'Grady and others were in the mix trying their luck.

With forty kilometers to go there was a break of sevenhigh-quality riders with a one-minute gap on 17 chasers: Andrei Tchmil, Johan Museeuw, Stuart O'Grady, Gianluca Bortolami, Arvis Piziks, Peter van Petegem and Max van Heeswijk

With 25 kilometers to go the seven had enlarged their gap to 1min 25sec. They worked together, probably assuming the time to attack would be the final stretch of cobbles, with 10 km to go.

And that's just what happened. 1997 Het Volk winner Peter van Petegem took off and there was no immediate move to get up to him.

Ultimately there was a poorly organized chase. With 5 kilometers to go, van Petegem still had nearly a half-minute.

The race was van Petegem's. He was losing ground, but still had a 12-second gap on second-place Gianluca Bortolami when he crossed the line.

This was van Petegem's second consecutive Het Volk victory.

Complete Results:

1	Peter Van Petegem	TVM-Farm Frites	5hr 8min
2	Gianluca Bortolami	Festina-Lotus	@ 12sec
3	Andrei Tchmil	Lotto-Mobistar	15''
4	Max Van Heeswijk	Rabobank	s.t.
5	Johan Museeuw	Mapei-Bricobi	s.t.
6	Stuart O'Grady	Gan	s.t.
7	Arvis Piziks	Team Home-Jack & Jones	s.t.
8	Servais Knaven	TVM-Farm Frites	2'02''
9	Fabio Baldato	Riso Scotti	s.t.
10	Henk Vogels	Gan	s.t.
11	Ludovic Auger	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
12	Wim Feys	Lotto-Mobistar	s.t.
13	Lars Michaelsen	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
14	Frédéric Guesdon	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
15	Tom Desmet	Collstrop-Zeno Protect	s.t.
16	Rolf Sørensen	Rabobank	s.t.
17	Marc Wauters	Rabobank	s.t.
18	Michael-Steen Nielsen	Team Home-Jack & Jones	2'25''
19	Frédéric Moncassin	Crédit Agricole	s.t.
20	Mario Aerts	Lotto-Mobistar	s.t.
21	Bart Leysen	Mapei-Bricobi	s.t.
22	Brian Holm Sørensen	Acceptcard	2'40''
23	Nico Mattan	Mapei-Bricobi	s.t.
24	Lauri Aus	Casino	s.t.
25	Christophe Agnolutto	Casino	s.t.
26	Fabio Sacchi	Polti	s.t.
27	Christophe Bassons	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
28	Laurent Brochard	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
29	Hans De Meester	Tonissteiner-Colnago	s.t.
30	Ermanno Brignoli	Riso Scotti	s.t.
31	Steven Van Malderghem	Palmans-Ideal	s.t.
32	Magnus Bäckstedt	Gan	s.t.
33	Cédric Vasseur	Crédit Agricole	s.t.
34	Jaan Kirsipuu	Casino	s.t.
35	Danny Nelissen	Team Home-Jack & Jones	s.t.
36	Philippe Gaumont	Cofidis	s.t.
37	Frank Vandenbroucke	Mapei-Bricobi	2'40''
38	Leon Van Bon	Rabobank	s.t.
39	Scott Sunderland	Palmans-Ideal	4'00''
40	Johan Capiot	TVM-Farm Frites	5'53''
41	Frank Høj	Palmans-Ideal	s.t.
42	Christophe Mengin	La Française des Jeux	9'15''
43	Bruno Boscardin	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
44	Filip Meirhaeghe	Home Market-Ville de Charleroi	12'10''
45	Marco Serpellini	Brescialat	s.t.
46	Bert Dietz	Telekom	s.t.
47	Francis Moreau	Cofidis	s.t.
48	Laurent Pillon	Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne	s.t.
49	Johan De Geyter	Palmans-Ideal	s.t.
50	Richard Virenque	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
51	Laurent Desbiens	Cofidis	s.t.
52	Frank Corvers	Palmans-Ideal	s.t.
53	Ludovic Capelle	Home Market-Ville de Charleroi	s.t.
54	Jens Zemke	Team Nürnberger	s.t.
55	Juri Silovs	Team Home-Jack & Jones	s.t.
56	Chris Peers	Lotto-Mobistar	s.t.
57	Jaime Javier Hernandez Bertran	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
58	André Korff	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
59	Erwin Thijs	Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx	s.t.
60	Bert Hiemstra	Rabobank	s.t.
61	Andreas Klier	Team Nürnberger	s.t.
62	Sébastien Demarbaix	Home Market-Ville de Charleroi	s.t.
63	Danny Daelman	Collstrop-Zeno Protect	s.t.
64	Thierry Marichal	Lotto-Mobistar	s.t.
65	Sébastien Hinault	Gan	s.t.
66	Hendrik Van Dyck	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
67	Glenn D'Hollander	Vlaanderen 2002-Eddy Merckx	s.t.
68	Alexander Vinokourov	Casino	s.t.
69	Steven De Jongh	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
70	Eric De Clercq	Collstrop-Zeno Protect	s.t.
71	Marco Milesi	Brescialat	s.t.
72	Maarten Den Bakker	Rabobank	s.t.
73	Tristan Hoffman	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
74	Rossano Brasi	Polti	s.t.
75	Enrico Cassani	Polti	s.t.
76	Bruno Cenghialta	Riso Scotti	s.t.
77	Robbie McEwen	Rabobank	s.t.
78	Tom Steels	Mapei-Bricobi	s.t.
79	Dirk Müller	Telekom	s.t.
80	Laurent Genty	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
81	Ludo Dierckxsens	Lotto-Mobistar	s.t.
82	Davy Delme	Tonissteiner-Colnago	s.t.