Omloop Het-Volk podium history | 2006 results | 2008 results

Ghent-Lokeren, 210 km / 41.361 km/hr
195 starters / 55 classified finishers

Race story | Complete results | Course map

Filippo Pozzato timed his powerful move perfectly to win the race. Sirotti photo.

The podium, from left: Tom Boonen (3rd), Filippo Pozzato and Juan Antonio Flecha (2nd). Sirotti photo

The race: It was a rainy morning in Belgium and the slippery cobblestones sent many riders to the ground and several to the hospital.

Despite one attack after another, a break didn't get away until the Oude Kwaremont, 50 kilometers into the race. The eight riders quickly went to work, but never built a large lead.

After the climbs were finished and the cobblestoned sectors began, about sixty kilometers from the finish, the eight riders were 2min 20sec ahead of the first chasers. Rabobank worked hard to catch the escapees, and with forty to go, they had succeeded.

As expected, that set things up for another round of attacks, and with fourteen kilometers left the best riders had made it to the leading group.

The final meaningful moves began when Stuart O'Grady got away. Juan Antonio Flecha quickly got on his wheel. Tom Boonen tried to bridge up to them, but didn't have the suds that day. As he chased, Boonen was joined by Filippo Pozzato, Baden Cooke and Nick Nuyens.

With five kilometers to race, O'Grady and Flecha had a twelve-second gap. They looked to have the race wrapped up, but as the duo got close to the line, they started slowing and jockeying for position in anticipation of the sprint. Nick Nuyens saw the opportunity and jumped after them. Pozzato let Boonen go after Nuyens. Pozzato was quickly on Boonen's wheel and with 300 meters left, Pozzato went around everyone to win the race alone.

Flecha was second, beating Boonen, Nuyens and O'Grady across the line.

Pozzato had already won the 2005 HEW Cyclassics and the 2006 Milano-San Remo. He would go on to other important victories, including the 2009 E3, Giro del Veneto and the 2013 Trofeo Laigueglia and Coppa Ugo Agostoni.

Complete results

1	Filippo Pozzato	Liquigas	5hr 4min 38sec
2	Juan Antonio Flecha	Rabobank	@ 2sec
3	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	s.t.
4	Nick Nuyens	Cofidis	s.t.
5	Stuart O'Grady	Team CSC	s.t.
6	Baden Cooke	Unibet.com	30sec
7	Gorik Gardeyn	Unibet.com	39sec
8	Stefan Van Dijk	Wiesenhof-Felt	s.t.
9	Robbie McEwen	Predictor-Lotto	s.t.
10	Steven De Jongh	Quick Step-Innergetic	s.t.
11	Philippe Gilbert	FDJ	s.t.
12	Andreas Klier	T-Mobile	s.t.
13	Nico Eeckhout	Chocolade Jacques-Top Sport Vlaanderen	s.t.
14	Murilo Antonio Fischer	Liquigas	s.t.
15	Mathew Hayman	Rabobank	s.t.
16	Marcus Burghardt	T-Mobile	s.t.
17	Gabriele Balducci	Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo	s.t.
18	Jukka Vastaranta	Jartazi-Promo Fashion	s.t.
19	Bastiaan Giling	Wiesenhof-Felt	s.t.
20	Tomas Vaitkus	Discovery Channel	s.t.
21	Laurens Ten Dam	Unibet.com	0.45
22	Bert Roesems	Predictor-Lotto	0.49
23	Kevin Van Impe	Quick Step-Innergetic	0.50
24	Johan Van Summeren	Predictor-Lotto	1min 2sec
25	Roy Sentjens	Predictor-Lotto	1.20
26	Filip Meirhaeghe	Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner	3.13
27	Eric Baumann	T-Mobile	s.t.
28	Christophe Laurent	Crédit Agricole	4.26
29	Lars Ytting Bak	Team CSC	s.t.
30	Yuriy Krivtsov	Ag2r Prévoyance	s.t.
31	Aurélien Clerc	Bouyges Telecom	s.t.
32	Ralf Grabsch	Milram	s.t.
33	Staf Scheirlinckx	Cofidis	s.t.
34	Marcel Sieberg	Milram	s.t.
35	Kevin Neirynck	Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner	s.t.
36	Mathieu Heijboer	Cofidis	s.t.
37	Frederik Veuchelen	Chocolade Jacques-Top Sport Vlaanderen	s.t.
38	Grégory Rast	Astana	s.t.
39	Michiel Elijzen	Cofidis	s.t.
40	Martin Müller	Milram	s.t.
41	Sebastian Siedler	Milram	s.t.
42	Frédéric Guesdon	FDJ	s.t.
43	Roger Hammond	T-Mobile	s.t.
44	Alessandro Donati	Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo	s.t.
45	Steve Cummings	Discovery Channel	s.t.
46	Leif Hoste	Predictor-Lotto	s.t.
47	Alexandre Pichot	Bouyges Telecom	s.t.
48	Max Van Heeswijk	Rabobank	s.t.
49	William Bonnet	Crédit Agricole	s.t.
50	Renaud Dion	Ag2r Prévoyance	s.t.
51	Roberto Petito	Liquigas	s.t.
52	Manuel Quinziato	Liquigas	s.t.
53	Sébastien Chavanel	FDJ	s.t.
54	Jimmy Casper	Unibet.com	s.t.
55	Allan Johansen	Team CSC	s.t.
56	Wouter Weylandt	Quick Step-Innergetic	s.t.
57	Arnaud Coyot	Unibet.com	s.t.
58	Peter Van Petegem	Quick Step-Innergetic	s.t.
59	Dmitriy Muravyev	Astana	s.t.
60	Serguei Ivanov	Astana	s.t.
61	Guennadi Mikhailov	Astana	s.t.
62	Gerben Löwik	Rabobank	s.t.
63	Sebastian Lang	Rabobank	s.t.
64	Nico Mattan	DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed	@ 6min
65	Alessandro Cortinovis	Milram	s.t.
66	Gianni Meersman	Discovery Channel	s.t.
67	Wilfried Cretskens	Quick Step-Innergetic	s.t.
68	Aaron Kemps	Astana	s.t.
69	Anders Lund	Team CSC	s.t.
70	Maarten Tjallingii	Skil-Shimano	s.t.
71	Wim Vansevenant	Predictor-Lotto	s.t.
72	Servais Knaven	T-Mobile	s.t.
73	Marco Zanotti	Unibet.com	s.t.
74	Lorenzo Bernucci	T-Mobile	s.t.
75	Fabio Sabatini	Milram	s.t.
76	Antonio Cruz	Discovery Channel	s.t.
77	Matthew White	Discovery Channel	s.t.
78	Laszlo Bodrogi	Crédit Agricole	s.t.
79	Matthew Wilson	Unibet.com	s.t.
80	Alessandro Vanotti	Liquigas	s.t.
81	Allan Davis	Discovery Channel	s.t.
82	Jeremy Hunt	Unibet.com	s.t.
83	Julian Dean	Crédit Agricole	s.t.
84	Greg Van Avermaet	Predictor-Lotto	s.t.
85	Michael Schär	Astana	6min 25sec

2007 Omloop Het Volk map: