Philippe Gilbert and Evelyn Arys win 2011 Belgian Road Championships
Omega Pharma-Lotto team’s Philippe Gilbert won the 2011 Belgian Road Championships in Hooglede-Gits on Sunday, June 26.
The 28-year-old Philippe took a total of 5 hours, 19 minutes and 38 seconds to cover a distance of 241.2 kilometres.
Gianni Meersman of FDJ was the runner-up with 2 seconds, behind Philippe and Jelle Wallays of Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator finished third.
After winning the stage, Gilbert said, "It's fantastic to have won - I can’t believe I have this beautiful jersey, I am proud to have this jersey but I’d like the exchange at the start of the Tour for the yellow jersey.”
Recently, Gilbert took the first stage of Volta ao Algarve and won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. He also took the overall first place in Ster ZLM toer and Tour of Belgium.
Bart Wellens was the first rider who made the first break and gained a lead of five minutes with 150 kilometres remaining. Behind Wellens there was a group of ten riders, which included the former champion Niko Eeckhout, Kris Boeckmans and Frederik Veuchelen.
With 100 kilometres to go, Wellens was caught by the peloton and a new group was formed in the race. The five riders from Omega Pharma-Lotto teams put the pressure on Quick Step riders.
Despite several attacks in the stage, Gilbert maintained his pace and in the last 2 kilometres he made a huge gap. Boonen tried his best to catch him, but he failed and Gilbert crossed the finish-line without any difficulty.
Gilbert said, "But I’ve got to share this victory with my team. We made the race difficult to force a selection. When Wellens went on the attack, I encouraged people to start a chase. Landbouwkrediet was the first team to sacrifice a few riders. Then I continued
to push my teammates.”
In the women category, Evelyn Arys won the 2011 Belgian Road Championships. She covered the distance of 107.2 kilometres in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 56 seconds.
Sofie De Vuyst of Lotto Honda was the runner-up and Lensy Debboudt finished third.
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