Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes) won Wednesday's Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen semi-classic race in Belgium.
Paris-Roubaix winner Tom Boonen (Quick Step) was one of the high-profile victims of a large crash in the final 100 metres of the race, which was caused when Robbie McEwen (Katusha) and Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) wiped out.
Despite having hundreds of wins on his palmares, this is Petacchi's first win on Belgian soil.
Britain's top finisher was Roger Hammond (Cervelo) at 30th, 30 seconds behind Petacchi. Hammond's team-mate and fellow Brit Jeremy Hunt came in 54th.
Isle of Man sprint ace Mark Cavendish (Columbia), winner of the race for the past two years, elected to miss the event.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
