Luke Rowe was determined to leave his mark on Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. With teammate and two-time winner Ian Stannard plotting an alternate route to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the Welshman had been “super focused” and “committed” for some time ahead of a rare leadership role at the first hit-out of the Classics season.
“I have to make the most of this,” the Team Sky rider told Cyclingnews on the start line just a few moments before rolling out of Gent. “With him not being here, it opens the door up a bit. You don’t get many opportunities in this team to have a chance, to be leader, so when you do you've got to take them.
The Welshman was true to his word and ignited the race on the slopes of the Taaienberg, forming what turned out to be the race-winning selection. Greg Van Avermaet, Peter Sagan, and Tiesj Benoot were there for company for the 57 kilometres back to Gent – along with breakaway clinger-on Alexis Gougeard – and Rowe held his own but lacked the legs for the slightly-uphill sprint.
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“Mixed emotions,” was his assessment as he spoke to Cyclingnews while warming down. “I wanted to put myself out there and put myself in the race, and I did that, but then to finish fourth out of a group of five, it’s slightly disappointing.
“I was fairly confident I’d get a podium, to be honest, going into the sprint, but as you could see I got out the saddle and my legs just locked up completely. I think it was the same for a few guys – you’d bet on Sagan in that position – that’s what its like at the end of a long hard race.”
Rowe’s determination to make a statement here had him doing extra recon rides and watching videos of past editions of the race. In the course of his research, he no doubt came across footage of a certain Tom Boonen attacking on the Taaienberg – the cobbled climb famed for being the Belgian’s favourite launchpad.
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