2012 E3 Harelbeke

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 E3 Harelbeke
2012 UCI World Tour, race 6 of 28
Route of E3 Harelbeke 2012
Race details
Dates23 March 2012
Stages1
Distance203 km (126.1 mi)
Winning time4h 51' 59"
Results
  Winner  Tom Boonen (Belgium) (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step)
  Second  Óscar Freire (Spain) (Team Katusha)
  Third  Bernhard Eisel (Austria) (Team Sky)

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

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]

Results
Stijn Devolder leads over the Muur

[10]

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
  1. Fontecchio, Chris (22 March 2012). "E3 Harelbeke: The New Heavyweight Champ". Podium Cafe. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  2. "E3 Harelbeke to be WorldTour race in 2012". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  3. "54th E3 Prijs Harelbeke 1.HC". Daily Peloton. Earthlink. 26 March 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  4. Rogers, Neal (22 March 2012). "Flanders predictor E3 Harelbeke makes WorldTour debut Friday". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  5. Walker, Lee (23 March 2012). "Five-star Boonen takes E3 Harelbeke". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  6. 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.
  7. Decaluwé, Brecht (23 March 2012). "Boonen victorious at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  8. "E3 Prijs Vlaanderen wildcards announced". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  9. "Deelnemerslijst" [List of participants] (PDF). E3 Harelbeke (in Dutch). Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  10. "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.
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