A good sign for the upcoming northern classics, Tyler Farrar sprinted to third in the 73rd Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. Belgian star Tom Boonen won the sprint, with Italian Daniele Bennati crossing the line second just ahead of Farrar, who rounded out the podium with a solid performance by Team Garmin-Cervélo.
With a bit of bad luck, Thor Hushovd was caught up behind a crash with about 20km to go, so Farrar didn’t have the lead-out that he would have preferred.
Garmin-Cervélo sport director Jonathan Vaughters said Farrar’s podium confirms that a big win is bound to come just as the spring classics season is clicking into gear.
“Tyler did a great sprint today. Sadly, Thor got caught up in that crash, so we didn’t have Thor to help launch the sprint for Tyler. Boonen did an impressive sprint today, so hat’s off to him,” Vaughters said.
Farrar’s third place came just a day after Garmin-Cervélo placed two in the top-10 at the E3-Prijs Harelbeke on Saturday, when Sep Vanmarcke just missed a trip to the podium with fourth and Heinrich Haussler was seventh.
“We keep getting these thirds and fourths, so one of these days, we’ll break through a get a win in one of these things,” Vaughters said. “We went full-speed this weekend and we’re satisfied because everyone is working well. This weekend will provide a good foundation going forward to Flanders and Roubaix.”
The classics squad now regroups before the most important week of the season. The Tour of Flanders is next up on Sunday in one of the most dramatic and hard-fought races of the year.
No Comments