Alberto Bettiol takes shock win at Tour of Flanders

EF Education First’s Alberto Bettiol has pulled off a shock win at the Tour of Flanders today.

The 25-year-old has ridden the race on three previous occasions, his only finish being in 2017 when he was 24th.

Today, however, he attacked a strong group containing several of the pre-race favourites on the Oude Kwaremont, the last but one of the day’s cobbled climbs.

His move came with 17 kilometres of the 267-kilometre race from Antwerp to Oudenarde remaining, and Bettiol was clear at the head of the race as he headed up the final climb.

Behind him, riders including CCC’s Greg van Avermaet and Mathieu van der Poel of Corendon Circus – who had crashed earlier and chased back to the front group – were trying to close the gap.

But with Bettiol’s team mate Sebastian Langeveld working hard to close down any threats and the chasers lacking organisation, he crossed the line 27 seconds ahead of Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Kasper Asgreen, with Alexander Kristoff of UAE Team Emirates third.

After his win, Bettiol said: "My first victory, I just don't believe it. I was feeling really good, my team said, 'If you can, just go,' so I closed my eyes and I just went.

"I looked round at the top and I had a really good gap so the team told me to just keep pushing – the last 14 kilometres was the longest of my life."

Defending champion Niki Terpstra was taken to hospital after an early crash involving multiple riders that appeared to leave the Dutchman unconscious for around a minute.

Bettiol’s victory – his first ever as a professional – is the first  by an Italian in the men’s race since Alessandro Ballan’s win in 2007, but came hours after their compatriot, the Team Virtu Cycling rider Marta Bastianelli, had won the women’s edition of the race.

The 31-year-old former world champion was one of four riders to get away on the Oude Kwaremont and won a three-way sprint from Mitchelton-Scott’s Annemiek van Vleuten, second, and Bigla Pro Cycling’s Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, who finished third.

"I'm really happy about this incredible result, it was a very hard race but I pulled it off," said Bastianelli. "I've won some big races but this is a very, very important one for me."