The 2012 E3 Harelbeke was the 55th running of the E3 Harelbeke single-day cycling race.[1] It was held on 23 March over a distance of 203 kilometres (126.1 miles) and was the sixth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season. E3 Harelbeke was held as a UCI World Tour event for the first time,[2] after previously being held as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour.[3] As well as its promotion to the World Tour, the race moved to a Friday running from a Saturday; the move was in order to give riders a day's break prior to the following World Tour event, Gent–Wevelgem.[4]
| 2012 UCI World Tour, race 6 of 28 | |||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | 23 March 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 203 km (126.1 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 4h 51' 59" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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In a mass sprint finish, the race was won by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen,[5] who in the process, became the most successful rider in the history of the race; his fifth victory – after four previous victories in succession between 2004 and 2007 – in Harelbeke took him beyond the record tally of four victories that he had been sharing with fellow Belgian rider Rik Van Looy.[6] Boonen finished ahead of Team Katusha's Óscar Freire and Team Sky's Bernhard Eisel, who completed the podium.[7]
Teams
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As E3 Harelbeke was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race,[8] and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton.
The 25 teams that competed in the race were:[9]
- Accent.jobs–Willems Veranda's
- Ag2r–La Mondiale
- Astana
- BMC Racing Team
- Cofidis
- Team Europcar
- Euskaltel–Euskadi
- Farnese Vini–Selle Italia
- FDJ–BigMat
- Garmin–Barracuda
- GreenEDGE
- Team Katusha
- Lampre–ISD
- Landbouwkrediet–Euphony
- Liquigas–Cannondale
- Lotto–Belisol
- Movistar Team
- Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
- Project 1t4i
- Rabobank
- RadioShack–Nissan
- Team Saxo Bank
- Team Sky
- Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator
- Vacansoleil–DCM
Results
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| Cyclist | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Boonen (BEL)
|
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step | 4h 51' 59" |
| 2 |  Óscar Freire (ESP)
|
Team Katusha | s.t. |
| 3 |  Bernhard Eisel (AUT)
|
Team Sky | s.t. |
| 4 |  Leonardo Duque (COL)
|
Cofidis | s.t. |
| 5 | Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)
|
Garmin–Barracuda | s.t. |
| 6 |  John Degenkolb (GER)
|
Project 1t4i | s.t. |
| 7 |  Mathieu Ladagnous (FRA)
|
FDJ–BigMat | s.t. |
| 8 | Alexandre Pichot (FRA)
|
Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 9 |  Alessandro Ballan (ITA)
|
BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 10 | Sébastien Turgot (FRA)
|
Team Europcar | s.t. |
References
edit- ^ Fontecchio, Chris (22 March 2012). "E3 Harelbeke: The New Heavyweight Champ". Podium Cafe. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "E3 Harelbeke to be WorldTour race in 2012". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "54th E3 Prijs Harelbeke 1.HC". Daily Peloton. Earthlink. 26 March 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ Rogers, Neal (22 March 2012). "Flanders predictor E3 Harelbeke makes WorldTour debut Friday". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ Walker, Lee (23 March 2012). "Five-star Boonen takes E3 Harelbeke". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ Atkins, Ben (23 March 2012). "Tom Boonen edges out Oscar Freire to take his fifth E3 Prijs Vlaanderen". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ Decaluwé, Brecht (23 March 2012). "Boonen victorious at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "E3 Prijs Vlaanderen wildcards announced". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "Deelnemerslijst" [List of participants] (PDF). E3 Harelbeke (in Dutch). Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke. Retrieved 23 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "UCI WorldTour Ranking #5 – E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke (BEL/UWT)". Union Cycliste Internationale. Infostrada Sports. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
External links
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