Tour of Flanders 2011

The road

At the start

Cancellara's to lose in Brugge

Eight hundred thousand people will stand on the road today, and most of them are here to see whether anyone can live with Fabian Cancellara. Twelve months ago he rode away from Tom Boonen on the Muur and soloed into Meerbeke, and Boonen has had a year to think about it. Gilbert was third that day. Ballan, Pozzato, Flecha and Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Nick Nuyens are all here. Eighteen hellingen, 256 kilometres.

How it was won

1. 185 km to go

   Chavanel goes on the Kwaremont

   Sylvain Chavanel slips off the front on the Oude Kwaremont and keeps going, over the Paterberg and the Koppenberg and out into eighty-five kilometres of open Flemish road, alone.

2. 240 km to go

   Cancellara turns on the turbo

   On the Leberg, Cancellara stands on the pedals and the panic spreads behind him. Boonen and Pozzato go with him; on the steepest ramp he accelerates again and they are gone, and he sweeps past Boom and Boasson Hagen alone.

3. 331 km to go

   Two men, forty seconds

   Cancellara catches Chavanel on the Valkenberg with the chase forty seconds down, and stretches it to a minute by Tenbosse. Chavanel will not take a turn, so the Swiss rides for two while BMC put seven men on the front behind.

4. 414 km to go

   The Muur blows the race open

   Up through Geraardsbergen on the cobbles under the chapel, the climb that has settled the Ronde for a generation unsettles it instead. Gilbert comes across in a fury, Leukemans and Ballan on his wheel and the whole race behind them, and Cancellara — a minute clear ten kilometres ago — is suddenly one of five.

5. 510 km to go

   Gilbert on the Bosberg

   Flecha, Nuyens, Boonen, Langeveld, Thomas and Hincapie have all made it back by the foot of the last climb. Gilbert attacks over the top and takes a few metres onto the flat road home, but Thomas drags it back and twelve riders come together with eight kilometres left.

6. 64 km to go

   Cancellara's last card

   Ballan shuts down Langeveld at four kilometres, and off that move Cancellara goes one final time. Only Chavanel and Nuyens can follow. Ten seconds at two kilometres, and nine riders chasing.

7. 7At the line

   Meerbeke

   Cancellara opens the sprint out of the last corner to keep Boonen off him, and Nuyens — invisible for six hours, barely named all day — comes off his wheel and takes the lead he can only just hold. Chavanel throws an arm up in fury, Cancellara third and spent, and Belgium has a Ronde winner nobody picked, in the last edition ever to finish in Meerbeke.

The result