August 26/12 15:24 pm - Ryan Anderson Fifth at Schaal Sels in Belgium

Posted by Editoress on 08/26/12
 

Ryan Anderson of Team SpiderTech powered by C10 showed he is a world-class rider today, taking fifth place in the 87th edition of the Schaal Sels, a classic Flanders race in Belgium.

Typical to a classic race in Belgium, the peloton started the day in wind, rain and colder temperatures on cobblestones. The race had three major phases: 14 sections of cobbles in the first 100 kilometres, a section in Holland in windy conditions, and the finishing circuit in Antwerp.

Guillaume Boivin was taken out in a crash on the second section as the group entered the cobble section in windy Holland. Pat McCarty stayed with Guillaume to support him, and was forced to abandon the race.

As a result of the crash, the peloton split in three distinct groups. Fortunately for Team SpiderTech, both trainee Antoine Duchesne and Ryan Anderson were part of the leading group up front. Simon Lambert-Lemay, Martin Gilbert and Francois Parisien all had to fight back, in the strong winds, from mishaps.

As the race headed to the finishing circuits in Antwerp, Team SpiderTech had three riders in the key split - Gilbert, Anderson and Duchesne. With the support of the teammates, five SpiderTech riders were in the front groups in the ciruits, although the team had planned to have six.

In the final moments, Anderson was very active in several of the key moves and breakaways. In the sprint finish among the leading group, Ryan Anderson crossed the line in fifth place as sprinter Martin Gilbert got pinched out.

“It was terrible to lose Guillaume like that. He and Mart [Martin Gilbert] were our key men today. The boys executed the race plan perfect today, they smashed it at 100 kilometres heading into Holland and were well positioned,” said Kevin Field, Directeur sportif in Belgium.

Added Field: “After we lost Guillaume, they rallied well and adapted to the changes on the road. As a team, the boys were great and we always had good numbers up front heading back into Antwerp and on the finishing circuits. [race winner] Eeckhout was pretty incredible today, we tried to ride him back with TopSport and Netapp in the final but he was really strong.”

Guillaume Boivin received medical care immediately after his crash. He will be further evaluated tomorrow.

Spidertech powered by C10 press release