User:Smilo Don/2004 Ronde van Vlaanderen

The 88th Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) bicycle race took place in Belgium on April 4th, 2004

CyclingNews reported on the finale: American George Hincapie, winner Wednesday in De Panne, tried to spark a winning move on the Leberg. Frustrated, he found nobody to help him, particularly as Van Petegem's Lotto team had two men further up the road. Bruylandts was the next to give it a go, taking Serguei Ivanov with him while Michael Boogerd leapt across to catch the tail end of the move. They were soon caught by the group of favourites, but the attack signaled the coming of the crucial point in the race, with the often decisive climbs of the Tenbosse, the Muur, and the Bosberg still to come.

Van Petegem tried to go clear on the paved rise of the Tenbosse, but Bettini wouldn't let him go. By this point eight men were still away up front, but their advantage was dwindling quickly as the more than 200 kilometres covered seemed to do nothing to blunt the speed of the peloton. The leaders were caught just before Geraardsbergen and the showdown was on on the Muur with a big group of heavy-hitters still together.

It was at this point that the expected attacks from Van Petegem, Vandenbroucke, and Museeuw didn't materialize, leaving Wesemann and Bruylandts to spark the winning escape with Hoste in tow. Hoste, who had been away in some fashion all day long, avoided taking any pulls as the trio sped toward Meerbeke. The other two let him sit on, preferring to take their own chances rather than get caught up in a premature tactical battle. Hoste did close the gap when Bruylandts put in a last kilometre attack, but it only served to set up the powerful Wesemann to take the sprint and claim his first ever World Cup victory.

Top 20 finishers

 * 1) 1 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                           6.39.00 (38.65 km/h)
 * 2) 2 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo
 * 3) 3 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf
 * 4) 4 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo                                     0.28
 * 5) 5 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
 * 6) 6 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team
 * 7) 7 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                    1.09
 * 8) 8 Frank Høj (Den) Team CSC                                          1.16
 * 9) 9 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon
 * 10) 10 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor
 * 11) 11 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Domo
 * 12) 12 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo                 1.17
 * 13) 12 Laurent Brochard (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                           1.30
 * 14) 13 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco                                         1.38
 * 15) 14 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon
 * 16) 15 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo
 * 17) 16 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team
 * 18) 17 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Relax-Bodysol
 * 19) 18 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
 * 20) 19 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
 * 21) 20 Stijn Devolder (Bel) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor