Michal Kwiatkowski succeeds during the opening stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen 2012
Michal Kwiatkowski of Team Omega Pharma-Quickstep grabbed his first victory of the 2012 season during the first stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. The 66th edition of the Belgian race started on March 2, 2012.
The Polish rider was too quick for his opponents, as he grabbed a lead of 4 seconds over his team-mate Julien Vermote.
The first edition of the race was held back in 1945 and the Belgian rider Kint Marcel achieved the victory, while Jesse Sergent of New Zealand succeeded during the most recent version of the race.
Kint Marcel, Gustaaf Desmet, Patrick Sercu, Wilfried Peeters, Erik Dekker and Nico Eeckhout hold the honour of winning it for a maximum number of two times.
Kwiatkowski struggled during the last season and could not secure a single top position, despite a number of appearances in 2011.
He finished third overall at the Three Days of De Panne, Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, along with the second place finish during the fourth stage o f the Tour du Poitou-Charentes 2011.
Michal finished the 7 kilometre stage of the race in a quickest time of 8 minutes and 43 seconds and bagged his first victory of the 2012 season.
Julien Vermote finished 4 seconds behind at the second position while Robert Thomas Wagner of Team RadioShack-Nissan occupied the third spot.
Alex Rasmussen, Jesse Sergent and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck finished the race at the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively. The 21-year-old was overwhelmed with the stage victory.
He noted, "It's the best day of my life, I didn't expect to win today. I knew that I had the legs for a good result, maybe top five or top three, but not the victory. I'm over the moon".
He further added, "I'll never forget this moment, it repaid me for all the effort I did in the last weeks. I want to share this victory with all the people who have an important part in my life and of course this extraordinary team, a real band of brothers".
Michal Kwiatkowski, Julien Vermote and Jesse Sergent were the top three young riders on the day and the trio is also leading the stage 1 classifications in the respective order.
Team Omega Pharma-Quickstep currently holds the top position at the team’s classifications while Team Garmin-Barracuda, Team RadioShack-Nissan, Team Sky Procycling and Team Rusvelo are holding the next four slots.
Michal is now eyeing the 181.5 kilometre stage of the race on Saturday, followed by the final stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen 2012 scheduled between Nieuwpoort and Ichtegem.
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