Kristoff falls short in De Panne defense

Lieuwe Westra laughed last at Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde, two days after he and an Astana teammate were out-gunned by Alexander Kristoff in the stage 1 sprint, the Dutchman rode to fourth place in stage 3b to claim the overall in Belgium Thursday.

“It was stressful until the end — I did not want to finish second again,” said Westra, 33, who finished as runner-up in 2011 and 2012. “My legs felt good, and I set a good time. Not good enough for a double win, but I am already very happy with the final victory.

“Some people are a bit choosy about this time trial, but not me. I’m just pleased to have written my name into the history of the race.”

Stage 3b, top 10

• 1. Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF, in 17:39
• 2. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 3. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 4. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :03
• 5. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at :19
• 6. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :22
• 7. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :24
• 8. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :28
• 9. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at :29
• 10. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :31

Top-10 overall

• 1. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, in 12:08:19
• 2. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :13
• 3. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :16
• 4. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :35
• 5. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :59
• 6. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 1:04
• 7. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:06
• 8. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at 1:19
• 9. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:19
• 10. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at 1:19

Katusha’s Kristoff, a dominant overall winner in last year’s edition, was eighth in the 14.2km test, 28 seconds behind the day’s winner Tinkoff’s Maciej Bodnar. Earlier on Thursday, Kristoff sprinted to third in the 111.5km stage 3a, behind winner Marcel Kittel. Westra finished anonymously in 47th, but on the same time as the winner, allowing him to vie for the overall win.

Having taken 25 seconds’ advantage on Kristoff in the final time trial, Westra vaulted into first overall, winning the three-day race by 13 seconds. It was his first victory since stage 7 of the 2014 Dauphiné.

“I was hoping to win the overall but I knew Westra is usually a better time trialist than me,” Kristoff said, “I’m pretty satisfied with my time trial. Maybe there were a few places I could gain some seconds here and there, but, maybe, that was only two seconds. Last year I won every stage here except the time trial so it was a big success. I’m pretty satisfied with the way I went this year and the team worked very well.”

“It’s a pity that the first day didn’t go as planned, and afterwards my chances for the GC were very limited,” Bodnar said. “It was visible that the work to help and support Peter Sagan at E3 and Gent-Wevelgem took its toll on my form. So I’m happy that I’ve recovered and could take the win today.”

Stage 3b results

• 1. Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF, in 17:39
• 2. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 3. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 4. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :03
• 5. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at :19
• 6. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :22
• 7. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :24
• 8. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :28
• 9. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at :29
• 10. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :31
• 11. Jan BARTA, BORA-ARGON 18, at :38
• 12. Lukasz WISNIOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :40
• 13. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at :42
• 14. Alexander PORSEV, TEAM KATUSHA, at :43
• 15. Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :44
• 16. Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :47
• 17. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at :49
• 18. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :50
• 19. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :50
• 20. Jack BAUER, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at :52
• 21. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :59
• 22. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:01
• 23. Alex KIRSCH, SSG, at 1:03
• 24. Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 1:03
• 25. Pavel BRUTT, TINKOFF, at 1:04
• 26. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:05
• 27. Sonny COLBRELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 1:06
• 28. Daniel HOELGAARD, FDJ, at 1:09
• 29. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:10
• 30. Svein TUFT, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 1:10
• 31. Danny VAN POPPEL, TEAM SKY, at 1:12
• 32. Davide MARTINELLI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 1:12
• 33. Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:13
• 34. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at 1:13
• 35. Frederik FRISON, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:14
• 36. André GREIPEL, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:14
• 37. Gert JOEAAR, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 1:14
• 38. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:15
• 39. Nikolay TRUSOV, TINKOFF, at 1:16
• 40. Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 1:21
• 41. Loic VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:23
• 42. Lasse Norman HANSEN, SSG, at 1:23
• 43. Marc SARREAU, FDJ, at 1:23
• 44. Ryan ANDERSON, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 1:24
• 45. Andrew FENN, TEAM SKY, at 1:24
• 46. Andreas SCHILLINGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 1:25
• 47. Florian SENECHAL, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 1:25
• 48. Viktor MANAKOV, GAZ, at 1:27
• 49. Erik BASKA, TINKOFF, at 1:27
• 50. Michal KOLÁR, TINKOFF, at 1:32
• 51. Ivan SAVITSKIY, GAZ, at 1:33
• 52. Alexandre PICHOT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 1:33
• 53. Filippo POZZATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 1:33
• 54. Jonas RICKAERT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:34
• 55. Pim LIGTHART, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:35
• 56. Adrien PETIT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 1:36
• 57. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 1:41
• 58. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:41
• 59. Phil BAUHAUS, BORA-ARGON 18, at 1:46
• 60. Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:48
• 61. Mirco MAESTRI, BARDIANI CSF, at 1:49
• 62. Mamyr STASH, GAZ, at 1:49
• 63. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:50
• 64. Romain CARDIS, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 1:52
• 65. Stijn STEELS, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:53
• 66. Jonas TENBROCK, SSG, at 1:53
• 67. Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV, GAZ, at 1:53
• 68. Murilo Antonio FISCHER, FDJ, at 1:53
• 69. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 1:53
• 70. Sander HELVEN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:56
• 71. Giuseppe FONZI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 1:56
• 72. Zakkari DEMPSTER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 2:00
• 73. Juraj SAGAN, TINKOFF, at 2:01
• 74. Olivier LE GAC, FDJ, at 2:03
• 75. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 2:03
• 76. Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 2:03
• 77. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 2:04
• 78. Maxime FARAZIJN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 2:05
• 79. André LOOIJ, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 2:05
• 80. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at 2:06
• 81. Kenneth VAN BILSEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 2:08
• 82. Alan MARANGONI, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 2:14
• 83. Federico ZURLO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 2:15
• 84. Magnus Cort NIELSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 2:17
• 85. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 2:18
• 86. Hugo Hofstetter, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 2:18
• 87. Roberto FERRARI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 2:19
• 88. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 2:19
• 89. Riccardo STACCHIOTTI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 2:22
• 90. Maximiliano Ariel RICHEZE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 2:23
• 91. Fabio SABATINI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 2:23
• 92. Gianfranco ZILIOLI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 2:24
• 93. Luka PIBERNIK, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 2:25
• 94. Sergey NIKOLAEV, GAZ, at 2:29
• 95. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 2:32
• 96. Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-ARGON 18, at 2:34
• 97. Michael REIHS, SSG, at 2:39
• 98. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 2:44
• 99. Ralf MATZKA, BORA-ARGON 18, at 2:53
• 100. Michael Carbel SVENDGAARD, SSG, at 2:57
• 101. Yohann GENE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 3:01
• 102. Antonio VIOLA, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 3:02
• 103. Ivar SLIK, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 3:12
• 104. Marko KUMP, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 3:14
• 105. Michael VAN STAEYEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 3:16
• 106. Igor BOEV, GAZ, at 3:46
• 107. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 3:51
• DNS Jacopo GUARNIERI, TEAM KATUSHA
• DNS Marco HALLER, TEAM KATUSHA
• DNS Sergey LAGUTIN, TEAM KATUSHA
• DNS Iljo KEISSE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP
• DNS Sean DE BIE, LOTTO SOUDAL
• DNS Marcel SIEBERG, LOTTO SOUDAL
• DNS Andrea GUARDINI, ASTANA PRO TEAM
• DNS Sam BEWLEY, ORICA – GreenEDGE
• DNS Luka MEZGEC, ORICA – GreenEDGE
• DNS Scott THWAITES, BORA-ARGON 18
• DNS Julien MORICE, DIRECT ENERGIE

General classification

• 1. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, in 12:08:19
• 2. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :13
• 3. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :16
• 4. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :35
• 5. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :59
• 6. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 1:04
• 7. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:06
• 8. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at 1:19
• 9. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:19
• 10. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at 1:19
• 11. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:27
• 12. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 1:27
• 13. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:34
• 14. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:38
• 15. Alex KIRSCH, SSG, at 1:40
• 16. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 1:42
• 17. Sonny COLBRELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 1:43
• 18. Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:49
• 19. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:52
• 20. Nikolay TRUSOV, TINKOFF, at 1:53
• 21. Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 1:58
• 22. Florian SENECHAL, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 2:02
• 23. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 2:22
• 24. Loic VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at 2:25
• 25. Pim LIGTHART, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 2:26
• 26. Filippo POZZATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 2:35
• 27. Juraj SAGAN, TINKOFF, at 2:38
• 28. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 2:56
• 29. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 3:20
• 30. Danny VAN POPPEL, TEAM SKY, at 3:20
• 31. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at 3:41
• 32. Jan BARTA, BORA-ARGON 18, at 4:20
• 33. Ryan ANDERSON, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 4:47
• 34. Gert JOEAAR, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 4:52
• 35. Jonas RICKAERT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 4:57
• 36. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 5:04
• 37. Mirco MAESTRI, BARDIANI CSF, at 5:12
• 38. Stijn STEELS, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 5:14
• 39. Sander HELVEN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 5:19
• 40. Maxime FARAZIJN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 5:28
• 41. Hugo Hofstetter, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 5:38
• 42. Luka PIBERNIK, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 5:48
• 43. Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-ARGON 18, at 5:57
• 44. Zakkari DEMPSTER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 6:04
• 45. Andreas SCHILLINGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 6:06
• 46. Jack BAUER, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 6:07
• 47. Alexander PORSEV, TEAM KATUSHA, at 6:24
• 48. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 6:27
• 49. Ivar SLIK, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 6:52
• 50. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 7:14
• 51. Marc SARREAU, FDJ, at 7:25
• 52. Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 7:50
• 53. Riccardo STACCHIOTTI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 7:56
• 54. Olivier LE GAC, FDJ, at 8:05
• 55. André LOOIJ, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 8:07
• 56. Frederik FRISON, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 8:13
• 57. Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV, GAZ, at 8:20
• 58. Michael REIHS, SSG, at 8:41
• 59. Federico ZURLO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 8:42
• 60. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 8:53
• 61. Ralf MATZKA, BORA-ARGON 18, at 9:36
• 62. Kenneth VAN BILSEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 10:31
• 63. Roberto FERRARI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 10:58
• 64. Lukasz WISNIOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 11:29
• 65. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 12:05
• 66. Fabio SABATINI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 12:47
• 67. Pavel BRUTT, TINKOFF, at 14:20
• 68. Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF, at 14:23
• 69. Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 14:25
• 70. Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 14:28
• 71. Ivan SAVITSKIY, GAZ, at 14:49
• 72. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at 15:26
• 73. Magnus Cort NIELSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 15:33
• 74. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 15:33
• 75. André GREIPEL, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 15:37
• 76. Davide MARTINELLI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 15:43
• 77. Erik BASKA, TINKOFF, at 15:50
• 78. Michal KOLÁR, TINKOFF, at 15:55
• 79. Adrien PETIT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 15:59
• 80. Romain CARDIS, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 16:15
• 81. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at 16:29
• 82. Alexandre PICHOT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 16:33
• 83. Jonas TENBROCK, SSG, at 16:35
• 84. Andrew FENN, TEAM SKY, at 16:48
• 85. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 16:54
• 86. Maximiliano Ariel RICHEZE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 16:57
• 87. Alan MARANGONI, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 17:02
• 88. Murilo Antonio FISCHER, FDJ, at 17:13
• 89. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 17:23
• 90. Marko KUMP, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 17:37
• 91. Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 17:38
• 92. Michael VAN STAEYEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 17:39
• 93. Michael Carbel SVENDGAARD, SSG, at 17:45
• 94. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 18:42
• 95. Giuseppe FONZI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 18:52
• 96. Yohann GENE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 18:59
• 97. Svein TUFT, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 21:28
• 98. Daniel HOELGAARD, FDJ, at 24:46
• 99. Sergey NIKOLAEV, GAZ, at 26:06
• 100. Viktor MANAKOV, GAZ, at 27:56
• 101. Phil BAUHAUS, BORA-ARGON 18, at 28:11
• 102. Lasse Norman HANSEN, SSG, at 28:59
• 103. Mamyr STASH, GAZ, at 29:25
• 104. Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 29:39
• 105. Gianfranco ZILIOLI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 30:00
• 106. Antonio VIOLA, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 30:38
• 107. Igor BOEV, GAZ, at 31:22