99Th SCHELDEPRIJS April 6
99th SCHELDEPRIJS April 6 The weather is really nice and sunny at the time 194 riders (25 teams, 33 nationalities) take the start of the 99thScheldeprijs. Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme is one of the thousands of spectators presents on Antwerp Great Market Square that is packed with people. The early breakaway starts as soon as the official start is given in Schoten. David Boucher, Adriano Malori, Vladimir Isaichev, Baptiste Planckaert and Dieter Cappelle form that break. The maximum gap with the bunch reaches 5’15” but it then starts progressively decreasing and at km 179, in the last but one local lap, Adriano Malori, the only rider still in the lead, is also caught by the bunch. From that moment on, things go very fast. A few crashes take place, evidence of the nervousness present in the bunch. Tom Boonen is the victim of two punctures but he is each time able to come back in the bunch. Edvald Boasson-Hagen collides with a tree and breaks three ribs. In the final sprint, nobody is able to beat Mark Cavendish who wins the Scheldeprijs for the third time in three participations. A crash occurs behind him. Tyler Farrar and Wouter Weylandt are amongst the victims but they are fortunately not badly hurt. This is not Sjef De Wilde’s case and there is concern that he is paralyzed. It is fortunately not the case. Sjef is taken to hospital but he is allowed to leave intensive cares after a few days and he recovers very quickly. Final sprint in Schoten is characterized by a crash.
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