Photo gallery: 2015 men’s Gent-Wevelgem

March 31, 2015
1 minute read

Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem made headlines not just because of Luca Paolini’s gutsy solo win — arguably the biggest victory of his career — but because of the horrendous conditions faced by the riders.

Winds of up to 90km/h buffeted the riders as they covered the 240km from Deinze to Wevelgem via nine cobbled sectors. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, who was blown off his bike before managing to chase back on and finish third, told VeloNews:

“I’ve never raced in wind like that before. It was unbelievable,” Thomas said. “We knew it was windy, but that was chaos, it was just hard to stay on the road.”

Thomas’ teammate Bernie Eisel told RIDE:

“The whole thing was just stupid …I honestly rode five riders off the road because I couldn’t hold my bike anymore and people just crashed everywhere. So I said, ‘Stuff that.’ I had a meeting and then we stopped the race – neutralised it.’”

Jack Bauer of Cannondale-Garmin told VeloNews:

“I don’t think I ever raced in a race like that before,” Bauer said. “There was so many really fast sections where the wind just dictated what happened; you just had to keep your balance, and most of us didn’t manage to do that.”

In the end just 39 of the 200 starters completed the race.

We hope you enjoy the following collection of images from a memorable day of racing, courtesy of Kristof Ramon.

Race results

Gent - Wevelgem ME (1.UWT) Deinze → Wevelgem

Full results

PAOLINI Luca Team Katusha

06:20:55

TERPSTRA Niki Etixx - Quick Step

00:00:11

THOMAS Geraint Team Sky

00:00:11

Full results →

: Strong winds strung the peloton out into echelons, splitting the race to pieces.

: After putting on a rain jacket, Sir Bradley Wiggins rides his way through the convoy back to the peloton.

: Wiggins would go on to withdraw from the race after about two hours. Despite that, eventual winner Luca Paolini described Wiggins as the favourite for Paris-Roubaix in less than two weeks.

: Even before the peloton hit the coast, the race was already blown to pieces by the fierce winds.

: Putting on your rain cape during a storm can be a hazardous and frustrating job. But it can look funny too, as demonstrated here by Hayden Roulston.

: One of many crashes for the day with Jack Bauer reaching for his glasses while others check their bikes. Everybody was able to continue the race after this.

: Gert Steegmans was blown into a ditch two metres off the road by the fierce winds (up to 80km/h) in the infamous Moeren, as other passing riders lean into the wind to be able to stay on the bike.

: Steegman’s bike went under and the team mechanic had to go fish it out. Steegmans abandoned on the spot with an injury to his face.

: Luke Durbridge was blown into the ditch as well.

: He needed some help getting out of the ditch …

: … before climbing into an ambulance, his day done.

: Lars Bak, holding on to his bike to prevent it from flying into the ditch, after crashing out of the peloton due to the extreme winds in De Moeren.

: Lars Bak checking his bloodied teeth in the reflection of the Orica-GreenEdge car after having crashed in De Moeren.

: Riders racing through a bunch of protesting farmers.

: After having raced Dwars Door Vlaanderen and the E3 in the previous days, Nairo Quintana took a backseat and witnessed the race from the teamcar. A safe choice considering the number of crashes and abandons the race brought.

: Stig Broeckx waits for the teamcar to arrive after having crashed with several other riders on the slippery cobbles.

: Nikolas Maes crashed with teammates Mark Cavendish and Lukasz Wisniowski on the same section of slippery cobbles.

: After having crashed on the slippery cobbles, Mark Cavendish is helped back on his bike to continue racing.

: Lukasz Wisniowski is checked by a medic after a crash.

: Sir Bradley Wiggins can’t but crack a smile at passing safely where others crash, blown off their bikes by the wind.

: The race leaders entering the french town of Cassel.

: Edvald Boasson Hagen entering Cassel. He was one of many riders to crash on the day, breaking his collarbone.

: Johan Vansummeren biting his teeth up the climb into Cassel.

: Tjallingii rides solo up the Kemmelberg as race leader.

: Maarten Tjallingiii leads on the Kemmelberg while yelling himself over the cobbled climb.

: Nacer Bouhanni got dropped and would later abandon the race. The Frenchman is yet to hit the winners list in 2015 having joined Cofidis from FDJ.fr.

: Neo-pro Simone Antonini tries hard to get back into a group ahead. A hard job to do solo with winds up to 80km/h blowing in your face …

: Jurgen Roelandts goes on a solo attack, catching up to and passing Tjallingii, and then managing to stay ahead for almost 60km before an elite group caught him with less then 15km to go.