The long-term significance of E3 Harelbeke may not be felt or even understood for some time but there was a sense of unacquainted ground being trod as Geraint Thomas soloed clear to take the biggest one-day win of his career.
Arguably, this was actually Team Sky’s grandest one-day win in their five year history with the Welshman playing a leading role in the break that formed on the Kwaremont before dispatching Zdenek Stybar and Peter Sagan with four kilometres remaining.
For a team that have struggled to match their stage racing dominance in the one-day arena Thomas certainly made victory look effortless. And for the rider who grew up watching the Belgian races on television, and named Nicole Cooke as an inspiration, the relief and joy was only tempered by the very fact that Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are still just around the corner.
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“This is massive and it’s one of the biggest races we do here in Belgium. I had some good form coming into this race but like is said before I wanted to race hard from Paris-Nice to Paris-Roubaix and just take my opportunities,” Thomas said in his winner’s press conference as he faced questions from the Belgian journalists more accustomed to greeting Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara in such circumstances.
“This is the biggest win for me in my road career,” he said, instantly bringing nodding approval from his audience.
“I won a stage in the Tour Down Under but it’s this race. If you look at the past winners with Boonen and Cancellera in recent years, there have been some super strong guys. It’s a big, big race so it’s the biggest of my career.”
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