Lieuwe Westra and his Astana teammate Alexey Lutsenko must have felt they did everything right and yet still they came away empty-handed on the opening stage of the Three Days of De Panne in Zottegem. Against Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) on Tuesday, it seemed as though there was precious little to be done.
The Astana pair and Kristoff found common cause in the finale of a wind-buffeted day of racing that brought the peloton from the North Sea coast deep into the Flemish Ardennes, as they battled to maintain their lead over the chasing group on the run-in to the finish.
Not content with their numerical advantage, Westra and Lutsenko managed to get the upper hand tactically, too, as they manoeuvred Kristoff to the front underneath the flamme rouge, and forced him to lead out the sprint.
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It made little difference. On the slightly downhill finishing straight, Kristoff simply wound up his big gear and coolly dispatched the Astana pair to claim the stage honours and the overall lead. Before mounting the podium, the Norwegian was generous in praising Westra’s efforts. “He was the strongest in the group and he pulled all the way to the line almost,” Kristoff said.
As Westra helped into a jacket by a soigneur a little further down Zottegem’s Van Aelbroekstraat, he told a small group of reporters that he and Lutsenko had raced with designs on final overall victory rather than a stage win.
“For me, we’re riding for the GC. I was not focused on the stage,” Westra said. “I was more focused on the GC. I’m happy with my legs now and it’s ok, but I’m not so happy with the last five kilometres because we lost a lot of time there.”
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