News | Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite • February 27, 2021
Trentin top-10 in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Trentin 8th as bad luck hampers chances in hectic final
Matteo Trentin showed his continued building form with an 8th place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
It was a case of bad luck as both Trentin and Alexander Kristoff suffered technical issues in the final 20km.
Trentin was active in the later half of the race, infiltrating a strong 12 man group which built a gap of 30’’ before being caught by the chasing pack.
The group swelled to 40 odd riders and as they closed in on the sprint, Kristoff looked poised to fight for the win, with Trentin sacrificing himself to help the Norwegian.
With 1.7km to the line disaster struck when Kristoff was struck from behind causing damage to his rear wheel.
This left Trentin for the sprint, who was unable to use his full range of gears through a rider colliding with him from behind and therefore had to settle for 8th behind race winner Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep).
Matteo Trentin: “It’s a bittersweet result : My condition is really good and I’m pleased from that side but from a results side we are a bit disappointed because it’s not what we came for and we had quite a bit of bad luck.
Unfortunately in the last few kilometres Stybar crashed into me and my rear derailleur was broken so my gears were limited.
When Kristoff came back we decided to sprint for him but he was also hit from behind and also broke his wheel. It’s frustrating as it played out how we wanted but just with a bit of bad luck. Tomorrow in Kuurne we’ll try again for a strong result.At least we know that the shape is there.”
Meanwhile at Faun-Ardèche Classic in France, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) took the victory with Rui Costa first home for UAE Team Emirates in 12th spot, 46’’ behind.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad results
1.Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 4:43:03
2.Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) s.t
3.Sep Vanmarcke (Israel) s.t
8. Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t
Faun Ardeche Classic results
1.David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) 4:32:37
2. Clement Champoussin (AG2R-Citroen) s.t
3. Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) +11’’
12. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) +46’’
