This race should've been my (short) build up towards the Ronde. I have been training on a bike for a while now, but since this would be my first competitive race in months, I thought I'd put in some effort here in order to try and get into shape.
I'm not that much in a racing shape, obviously. But I do have one major advantage, I'm fresh! That freshness must be more important than I originally thought.
I finished 5th on the opening stage, which was hilly and filled with cobbled sections. I won stage 2, which ended on a sprint with 5, after a tough, rainy day! Stage 3 and 4 I had to defend my leader's jersey, which I failed to do in the final time trial. But all in all a successful first race.
Is my form enough to win De Ronde? Probably not.
Can I win De Ronde? Maybe, but I'll need a lot of luck on my side
Will my form be good for Roubaix? It'll be better. We'll have to see if it'll be enough.
We're here. I'm so glad I made it here just in time. My form is on the increase and I feel ready to compete with the top again today! This is a race which suits me. I have won last year's edition in the Belgian Tricolere jersey. If everything goes my way, I'll do the same today! It's the biggest goal of the season so let's go for it!
Profile
We're back to a more modern profile, with 3 times Kwaremont and Paterberg. That's fine by me. The Kwaremont is my kind of hill. I'll miss Roelandts today, for sure, but we had a decent back-up plan nonetheless!
Part one of our plan was a success, we got Bradley Carroll in the breakaway group. That's not just any guy up there, he would survive for a long time, putting me in a comfortable position, which would definitely make up for my lack of competitive racing days!
It was up to the teams of the two big favorites to do the work; the teams of Sep Vanmarcke and Kenneth Vanbilsen.
The weather conditions were tough and at a certain point the peloton split in literally twenty pieces. I was with Vanbilsen and Vanmarcke and I also had Wiggins still with me. The break was still way up front, though! There were still 120 km to go, after all.
With 90 km left to go, the three favorites (I was included as a favorite despite my late season start on most bookie sites) were fighting each other already. Vanmarcke, Vanbilsen and myself. Arguably the three strongest cobblers in the world!
But it was too soon. I wasn't taking any turns because I had Carroll still up front. The two of them didn't want to take me on like that, so we let ourselves get caught. Still had plenty of time!
Only with 30 km left to go, right before the Oude Kwaremont, we caught Zabel and Carroll, the final two breakaway companions.
And then, Vanmarcke attacked! I still haven't forgotten the World Championships. I made a promise to myself today: follow any attack by Vanmarcke, even if I'm totally dead!
On the 3rd time Oude Kwaremont, it was obvious who were the strongest riders in the race. Once again, we were together: Vanmarcke, Vleminckx, Vanbilsen. Triple V for a historic battle!
This time I had a reason to relay, since a group with Sagan and Degenkolb was chasing us! But at this point of the race, I was 100% certain I was the most fresh of the three at the front, so I didn't mind.
We were heading towards the finish. With the bad weather, 1.720.423 Belgian viewers were watching the television to witness this spectacle. We all bluffed; we had enough time on our chasers to do so. We were all potential winners and we can all sprint, so it'd be an exciting final kilometer!
Vanbilsen tried to get away on the right side of the road, I was at his wheel immediately! He had no choice but to keep going now, though, he started his sprint early!
200 meters to go...
150 meters to go...
Time to go!
With 100 meters to go, I broke loose!!
Could it be? Two Rondes in a row?
Yes, it could!!
Amazing! At the age of 25, I win my second Ronde Van Vlaanderen, twice in the Belgian Tricolore Jersey! What an amazing day! Today's victory was even more beautiful than last year's. This was an epic fight and I came out on top!
It was thanks to Carroll, without a doubt, but there was also something else. I suggest you read the interview to find out my secret...
Matthias Vleminckx, congratulations! You are now officially the King of Flanders, the pride of Belgium. A second Ronde Van Vlaanderen, congratulations!
Thanks! It means so much to me. I just feel so great right now. This was my big season goal and I brought it home, it wasn't an easy task! You were out for so long, there were many doubts about your form. How can you win De Ronde Van Vlaanderen after being back for only a week after an illness?
I guess it's confession time... You see, I did catch a virus early in the season. I recovered quite well, actually, and I started training intensively. But then the DS and I decided it would be very hard to win De Ronde this year. I would be the absolute favorite and this year.. Well, frankly, we didn't have the team to carry the race. So we decided to play some theater. Orica kept me out of racing, off the radar. I was "ill", when actually I was training hard, very hard.
It was a tough decision to skip E3 and Wevelgem as part of this plan, but I knew I had to. If I had raced them and the competition had seen I was good, we would've had to carry the race in de Ronde. And my big goal this season is De Ronde, more than anything else!
So I came to the start here heavily trained and ready, but without the burden of having to carry the race and with the element of surprise. With Bradley up front, I only had to come out of my shell 30 kilometers from the finish, you know the rest. That is quite a story. I can imagine there'll be a lot of criticism on this. The Belgian Jersey deliberately skipping E3 and Wevelgem?
Like I said, it wasn't easy. But I wanted to win today, no matter what the cost. I hope people will see that. You're 25 years old now, and this is already your second Ronde Van Vlaanderen. Are you thinking about the record?
We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I just want to win as much as I can. This race suits me perfectly and I'll always try my best here. One more question. There are rumours going around that you're out of a contract at Orica. Are you talking with other teams?
I can't say anything about that, sorry. Thanks!
So there you have it.
The DS and myself set up a very risky, daring plan. But in the end, I just won De Ronde Van Vlaanderen. So I'd say our plan worked, didn't it?
Congratulations!
outsprinted Boonen no less!
De Panne - Koksijde 
