Greig Leach

The race today was being led by a small six man escape that had gotten away at the 60 kilometer mark and they were still away with about 96 kilometers left to race. The escapees were comprised of Taco Van Der Hoorn (Roompot Nederlandse Loterij), David Per (Bahrain-Merida), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Roger Wagner (LottoNL Jumbo), Laurens De Vreese (Astana) and Christophe Masson (WB Veranclassic Aquality Protect). They had about four minutes on the chasing peloton as they started up the Oude Krisberg. E3 Harelbeke is punctuated with short steep cobbled climbs that jar the riders teeth and zap the strength from their legs.