New signing Dries Devenyns proved that he is ready for a leadeship role for Giant-Shimano when he finished 8th in yesterday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after an aggressive showing. However, the Belgian felt that he could have been up for more in the cold and tough race.

Dries Devenyns has finished eighth at the end of a hard opening classic to the season, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium. The race started under overcast conditions which soon deteriorated making it a tough day in the saddle for all involved.

Early in the race a break of eight riders formed, containing Ramon Sinkeldam for Team Giant-Shimano. As the race hit mid-distance and the short sharp climbs and cobbles sections started to take their toll and the race began to split.

The front group splintered and behind the attacks started to fly. Sinkeldam was brought back by the chasing bunch before a small break pulled clear with the team not represented. This wasn’t the end of the action though as the front of the race came back together before two riders pulled clear in the final 15km and from there Ian Stannard (Team Sky) took the win.

Behind this pair, Devenyns sprinted home in a third group to end the day with a strong top-10, but he knew that the day could have been more fruitful.

“That was a really hard way to start the classics campaign,” said Devenyns on the team bus after the finish. “It was cold and wet but I felt good and stayed up the front all race.

“Maybe there was a possibility to have gone with the riders at the end who sprinted for third place but that is racing. The team worked great together and did a good job keeping me out of trouble. It’s a good start to the campaign.”

Coach, Marc Reef said:

“The parcours and weather conditions made it a really tough day out there today. Dries was well supported by the team and rode well to finish in the third group.

“We are happy with the performance as we were competitive and involved at the head of the race but we will still go away and evaluate what went right and what went wrong.”

Reinardt Janse van Rensburg unfortunately crashed during the race putting him out of contention but he was ok, without any major injuries.