The Three Days of De Panne: Stage One

In the build-up to the Tour of Flanders, the Three Days of De Panne gives riders an opportunity to test their legs and there was certainly plenty of attacking going on throughout the first stage. Peter Sagan, in particular, was keen to show his strength and in the last 20 kilometres put in a number of digs. Sylvain Chavanel contemplated going with him the first time around, but realised that to do so would simply secure him second place. Sagan came back to the group, but once again went off the front and this time a number of riders went with him, including Niki Terpstra, Alexander Kristoff, Arnaud Demare, Oscar Gatto, Maxime Vantomme, Jerome Cousin, Davide Cimolai and Johan Le Bon.

Fresh from his victory in the Gent–Wevelgem, Sagan was obviously keen to prove his dominance once again. However, it wasn't as easy as he had perhaps expected it to be and for once their were no histrionics as he crossed the line. Instead of holding his line, he had moved across towards the barriers, thus forcing Demare to sit down, which almost certainly cost him the win. However, there was no protest from FDJ and Sagan was awarded the victory. It was Andre Greipel who led the rest of the peloton in, finishing nine seconds behind the winner.