Francesco Chicchi finished off the effort of Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team, who worked hard at the front of the peloton to chase down a three man break that escaped 54km into the 181.5 km Stage 1 of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen on Saturday, from Brugge to Bellegem. Chicchi, who had a leadout ready for him with 1km to go, beat out Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) in the sprint uphill. "It was a chaotic sprint" explains Chicchi. "I knew really well the final because here I won already six years ago. The sprint was slightly uphill. I was on the wheel of Demare. When he lauched his sprint at about 300 meters from the finish I gave my best to pass him. It was really a head to head until the end, then I passed him in the last 50 meters. I'm very happy about this victory. It's already the third in this season. I have to thank the team. They worked a lot today to defend the leadership of Kwiatkowski thinking in the same time to put me in the best condition possible for the sprint. I did also the first sprint intermediate to take some seconds from Michal's competitors. We are really working great as a team. I feel really comfortable in the team and I'm happy that, despite my disappointing 2011 season, the team continues to trust in me." Chicchi won the intermediate sprint before the three riders — Baptiste Planckaert (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Stijn Neyrinck (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Jeffry Louder (UnitedHealthcare) — escaped the peloton. The gap was at about 4 minutes and 30 seconds at its largest, but the peloton, led by Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team, caught the break with a little less than 17km to go. This is the 19th win for the team in three different disciplines, and the second at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Michal Kwiatkowski and Julien Vermote went 1-2 in the prologue on Friday. The stage 1 victory is also Chicchi's 24th career win.
"Marco Bandiera and Matthew Brammeier did a very good job," Director Tom Steels said. "The same with Guillaume Van Keirsbulck. They pulled all day long, just the two of them to keep the break in sight and bring the gap from four to one minute. On the last lap Matteo Trentin went really, really fast and almost broke the group in the middle. Then, when the break was caught, Chicchi, Vermote, and Michal Kwiatkowski stayed in the front. It was a hard day for them."
Steels said the team will focus much of their effort in the final stage of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen on getting Kwiatkowski his first overall victory of his career. Kwiatkowski currently leads the general classification.
"We're going to keep him in the front and try not to lose it with the bonifications," Steels said. "There's also the a very hard cobbled section near the end. It's going to be a tricky race, but this team, they have what it takes to pull it off. But we also have to be lucky. One flat tire and it's gone. Let's hope fortune is on our side tomorrow and Michal can win his first stage race."
