Fortune certainly didn’t smile on Lotto-Belisol at today’s Gent-Wevelgem. At about fifty km before the finish Jürgen Roelandts had a puncture. When he stood on the side of the road to change his wheel, he was hit by a car of the race direction and subsequently left the race according to a press release from the team.

Lotto Belisol kept having bad luck, as Jens Debusschere also had a flat tire. At that moment he was part of a breakaway of 13 riders. The 23-year-old Debusschere could play his part in the peloton afterwards, but first he changed the wheel the neutral car had given him for one from the team.

After his teammate Bodnar (Cannondale) had given everything he had to keep up the advantage for his leader, Sagan attacked four km before the finish. Nobody would see him again. After the race Jens Debusschere was very disappointed.

“Sagan is Sagan, so I won’t say I could have beaten him, but in theory the others definitely weren’t faster than me. Because of that puncture I have lost a good result in a WorldTour race. It was the ideal situation: I was in front and four other guys of the team were behind me in the peloton. I could keep myself aloof and didn’t have to waste any unnecessary energy. I felt I could have ridden the final. Of course this gives me confidence for the Tour of Flanders, I want to work for the team and be satisfied about my contribution. I won’t ride the Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde; I’ll prepare myself quietly for Sunday.”