Flecha ends wait in Ghent

By John MacLeary Published: 7:01PM GMT twenty-seven February 2010

Flying arrow: Juan Antonio Flecha won his lass semi-Classic in Ghent Photo: EPA

Flecha, the nearly-man of one-day racing, eventually combined a semi-Classic to his palmarès after the 32 year-old outwitted local Belgian Philippe Gilbert following an conflict with twenty kilometres of the 204km competition remaining.

Heinrich Haussler, Cervelo"s German, hold on, however the Team Sky supplement valid as well clever and was means to journey opposite the finishing line alone eighteen seconds forward of the chasing pack.

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Flecha"s feat follows a conspicuous fibre of formula for Team Sky, the British veteran cycling group shaped by Dave Brailsford, and presumably their greatest delight to date.

The Spaniard, who has top-three finishes in Paris-Roubaix, Ghent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, certified that the feat was a prolonged time coming.

"It"s unequivocally romantic for me. I"ve been knocking on the doorway most times in these races and if you keep perplexing afterwards sometimes, similar to today, the feat comes. It"s a unequivocally pleasing feeling," pronounced Flecha.

"I wish to work at this feat to the total team. Especially Mathew Hayman who gave his behind circle to me when I had a prosaic tyre only prior to the Eikenberg. Scott [Sunderland] and Steven de Jongh in the car were implausible too.

"A small piece of this win contingency additionally go to Frank Vandenbroucke. It"s my initial feat in Belgium and that"s because I forked to the sky."

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad details

Ghent-Ghent, Belgium, 204.3km: 1. Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa - Team Sky) 5 hours 7 mins fifteen seconds, 2. Heinrich Haussler (Ger - Cervelo) at 18secs, 3. Tyler Farrar (US - Garmin-Transitions) at same time, 4. Luca Paolini (Ita - Acqua & Sapone) s.t., 5. Marcel Sieberg (Ger - HTC-Columbia) s.t., 6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor - Team Sky) s.t., 7. Niko Eeckhout (Bel - An Post-Sean Kelly) s.t., 8. Bernhard Eisel (Aut - HTC-Columbia) s.t., 9. Tom Veelers (Hol - Skil-Shimano), 10. Filippo Pozzato (Ita - Katusha) s.t.

Selected others: 19. Roger Hammond (GB - Cervelo) s.t., 77. David Millar (GB - Garmin-Transitions) 4mins 59secs, 103. Ian Stannard (GB Team Sky) 10mins 45secs, 125. Russell Downing (GB Team Sky) 13mins 10secs, 137. Jeremy Hunt (GB - Cervelo) s.t.