Jan Bakelants had his sight on a good performance in the Liège -Bastogne –Liège and claimed to be satisfied with his disposition, but he had to deal with an extremely bad luck twice yesterday and eventually settle for a 48th place, nearly three minutes down to Simon Gerrans (Orica Green-EDGE).

“I was well placed for the Côte de Wanne on [Roman] Kreuziger’s wheel. I wasn’t happy too long as soon I [landed] on my right shoulder. Due to a motorcycle accident, I had to wait long before receiving a new bike,” Bakelants described his first race incident for Sporza.

“On the Wanne I had to make a serious effort to get back. As I ended up positioned about 50th place in the peloton, it was still manageable.”

Despite a huge effort to make it back to the front of the peloton, the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider managed to baunce back and was pleased about his condition while reaching the bottom of the infamous La Redoute climb.

“When I finally was able to take my turn [at the front], they [team] decided to keep on pushing and Tony Martin led me to the bottom of La Redoute very well. I moved right along. And I still felt good.”

“Nothing spectacular happened,” Bakelants continuead his story, “Simply others succeeded to keep on riding while I dropped a chain.”

“I enjoyed a decent catch up. Passing the cars I managed to rejoin [the peloton], but the front group didn’t wait.”

“I was in a second group. We still have seen the first group within out sight, but soon I realized that the race was over for me,” Bakelants recalled.

“These were two very bad moments for having a bad luck. It hurt. 30 riders sprinted for a victory and I still felt good. Hopefully it rains next year.”