Tour of Flanders 2015: Kristoff outpowers Terpstra in thrilling finale

The battle in the Tour of Flanders lasts 264.2 kilometers and the riders face 19 short and steep climbs. Terpstra attacks at Kruisberg, with three climbs to go, and the Dutchman is accompanied by Kristoff. The duo races to a half a minute gain, despite Van Avermaet and Sagan trying to bridge the gap. The Norwegian bests Terpstra on the line. Brilliant performance! (Slideshow route/profile)

Tour of Flanders 2015: race results

1. Alexander Kristoff (nor)
2. Niki Terpstra (nld) s.t.
3. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) + 0.07
4. Peter Sagan (slw) + 0.17
5. Tiesj Benoot (bel) + 0.35
6. Lars Boom (nld) s.t.
7. John Degenkolb (ger) + 0.48
8. Jürgen Roelandts (bel) s.t.
9. Zdenek Stybar (cze) s.t.
10. Martin Elmiger (swi) s.t.

Race report
In extremely good conditions the peloton leaves the ‘Grote Markt’ in Bruges. It takes a while for the break of the day to get clear and then Groenewegen, Sergent, Gaudin, Matzka, Venturini and Brammeier are off. Bak and Trapporti bridge the gap, while Venturini can’t keep the pace and is dropped. The front group races to a 7 minutes gain.

Then the gap starts to shrink and it lingers at 3 to 4 minutes, so the pack is in control. With around 100 km’s left Sergent crashes when a car hits him and he is forced to abandon.

At 80 km’s the gap drops under 3 minutes for the first time. Bak and Gaudin attack and they continue as front duo. With 48 km’s to go Gaudin is the last survivor of the early break to be reeled in.

At Kruisberg Terpstra attacks and he is accompanied by Kristoff. They race to a 0’30” gain and the last climb up Oude Kwaremont sees a Geraint Thomas attack with Stybar on his wheel, but they don’t manage to bridge the gap.

At Paterberg Van Avermaet and Sagan attack. They start the chase but it´s all in vain. Kristoff and Terpstra work together well and Kristoff is strongest. Terpstra pokers, yet the Norwegian doesn´t blink and he sprints to victory in the race he was dreaming of since childhood.