From the smooth boards of the velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to the rough and tumble of the cobbles of the Oude Kwaremont, Elia Viviani (Sky) scarcely missed a beat as he resumed his road duties at Belgium’s Opening Weekend after claiming a brace of medals at the Track World Championships in Paris only last week.
The Italian acted in a supporting role for Ian Stannard in his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory on Saturday afternoon before lining out as his team’s leading man at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. Viviani lived up to that billing in the eventual bunch sprint in Kuurne, placing third behind Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), although he was not without regrets at how events had unfolded.
“Unfortunately we started a bit too far back when it came to the sprint, but then Luke [Rowe] did great work to bring me back up to Cav,” Viviani told Cyclingnews as he soft-pedalled back towards the podium area after the finish. “But Cav went just as I got back up to him and that was it. But I still finished third after coming from 20 positions back.”
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Viviani was one of the happy few to get the better of Cavendish so far this season when he defeated him at the Dubai Tour, and he impressed by making up ground on the Manxman and Kristoff in the final 50 metres here, even if he never truly looked like overhauling them.
Tellingly, all three podium finishers were also part of an elite selection of 19 riders that formed over the top of the Kwaremont with 70 kilometres still to race after jousting from Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) sparked a reaction.
Cavendish had four QuickStep teammates around him in that move and was able to refrain from taking turns on the front. Viviani, with just Stannard for company, found himself pressed into duty more often than he might have liked.
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