Experience and attention to detail paid off in spades Sunday as Team Katusha’s Luca Paolini took a solo victory in the prestigious Gent – Wevelgem. Seizing the opportunity to attack with 6 km to go, Paolini created a gap that he carried to the finish line, marking the 15th professional win of his career. Pointing to his head and his Team Katusha logo on the jersey as he crossed the finish line, it was a fantastic ride for the exuberant Italian rider. 

"I am really happy today! I did not expect this, because we came here to help Alex (Kristoff), who proved to be in good shape. But in one moment he said he didn’t feel so strong today and told me to try for myself. It was a very hard day with all the bad weather. I crashed two times and I had to change the bike twice, but I still had the power to stay in front. In the final I knew I had to avoid the sprint, because I am not too fast in the sprint. I knew I had to attack. With 6 km to go I tried to attack with 50% of my power to watch the reaction from the others. Nobody answered so I went for 100%. I had luck on my side and I won. Maybe this is the best victory in my career. I want to thank my family, my wife and children for their support and patience, and I want to thank my team, where I feel like we’re family. The team provided us with a very good training program in the winter and I was able to get into great shape.I am super happy today," said Gent – Wevelgem winner Luca Paolini.

Paolini’s career spans fifteen years and includes victories in both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, as well as a podium place in Milano – Sanremo and numerous other victories in one-day races.  At age 38, Luca Paolini became the oldest winner in the Gent – Wevelgem classic.

Chasing after Paolini for the remaining podium places were Niki Terpstra (Etixx – Quick Step) and Geraint Thomas of Sky for second and third, both at 11-seconds. Katusha teammate Alexander Kristoff sprinted in for ninth from the remains of the main field, arriving more than five minutes after Paolini’s winning time of 6:20.55.  

Paolini’s path to victory started with more than 50 km still to race. With Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) out front holding a gap of two minutes and five riders chasing him, Luca Paolini powerfully bridged across from a severely diminished main field to join the chasing group. While the main field continued to lose ground, Paolini’s group worked well together as they set about to bring back Roelandts, finally succeeding with 18 km to go. But the rain and constant strong winds made for difficult racing on the 240 km course in the West Flanders region of Belgium and every rider suffered from the hard conditions. But Paolini was on a good day and was attentive to every move made from the riders in his group, marking the wheel of Terpstra prior to his solo move at 6 km to go. His crafty riding and clear understanding of race tactics gave Luca Paolini the edge he needed to outwit the other riders and earn the biggest win of his long career.

"We all are very happy. It is a well-deserved victory for Luca and the entire team. I am really happy with the guys as they did an impressive race today with Katusha in front every moment of the race. We were well prepared for the race, even for such bad weather conditions. It was really hard today because of the wind, but our team was motivated and ready for the real North classic weather. Luca was excellent today; he did a great race and a put up a perfect, smart attack in the final. And Alex Kristoff in the final was the best in the sprint for 9th place. I am proud of our team," said team director Torsten Schmidt.