The 2007

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the To ...

cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

took place on 11 April 2007. The race had a length of 207 km. The day began in Deinze with overcast weather and light winds. This gave way to a quick start and it was not until after the first intermediate sprint that the initial break of

Florent Brard Florent Brard (born 7 February 1976, in Chambray-lès-Tours, France) is a retired French road bicycle racer. He won three national championships, including the professional road race. He became a professional in 1999 and stopped racing in Novem ...

Christophe Mengin Christophe Mengin (born 3 September 1968 in Cornimont) is a retired French racing cyclist and a former cyclo-cross racer. He became professional in 1995, signing to the Chazal team, and retired after the 2008 season. His height is 1.73 m, and w ...

, and Roger Hammond. The leaders were allowed a substantial lead (eleven minutes) for a semi-classic, which forced the peloton ride aggressively over the final 100 km. During the descents of the

Kemmelberg Kemmelberg (, ) is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometer from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality of Heuvelland in West Flanders. History The earliest settlements on the Kemmelberg date back 2.500 y ...

, several riders crashed on the wet cobblestones and were severely injured after a rider swerved to avoid a fallen water bottle. Amongst them were Jimmy Casper (broken nose, broken collarbone, broken wrist),

Wim De Vocht Wim De Vocht (born 29 April 1982) is a Belgian retired professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2004 and 2012. His sister Liesbet De Vocht is also a former professional cyclist. Palmarès ;1998 :3rd National ...

(broken thumb),

James Vanlandschoot James Vanlandschoot (born 26 August 1978 in Bruges) is a Belgian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2015. Major results ;1999 : 7th Ronde van Vlaanderen U23 ;2000 : 1st Overall Tweedaagse van Gaverstreek ::1st ...

(broken thumb, wrist and elbow),

Andy Cappelle Andy Cappelle (born 30 April 1979) is a Belgian former professional road cyclist. Cappelle retired at the end of the 2013 season, after thirteen years as a professional. Palmarès ;1999 : 1st National Under-23 Road Race Championships ;2000 : 1 ...

(broken elbow and fractured shoulder),

Marco Velo Marco Velo (born 9 March 1974 in Brescia) is a retired Italian professional road bicycle racer. Professional career Velo, who started his career with Brescialat, is a talented time-trialist, winning the Italian National Time Trial Championsh ...

(broke his knee, collarbone and 2 ribs),

Wilfried Cretskens Wilfried Cretskens (born 10 July 1976) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer. He rode most of his career for the team, where he was a domestique for the team leaders in the classic races, among others Tom Boonen. His most notable career win w ...

(several contusions),

Aart Vierhouten Aart Vierhouten (born 19 March 1970 in Ermelo, Gelderland) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who last rode for . He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Major results ;1993 : 1st, Overall, Tour d ...

Tyler Farrar Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

Luke Roberts Luke Justin Roberts (born 25 January 1977) is a sports director and former Australian racing cyclist specialising in both track cycling and road bicycle racing. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he resides both in Adelaide and in Cologne, ...

, Fabio Sacchi,

Mathew Hayman Mathew Hayman (born 20 April 1978) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2019 for the , and teams. During his career, Hayman was an experienced and respected domestique, as he typica ...

Matthew Wilson Matthew Wilson (born 29 January 1987) is a British rally driver from Cockermouth in Cumbria. He is the son of M-Sport boss and former World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson. Wilson competed in the WRC for the Stobart M-Sport Ford team. ...

and

Heinrich Haussler Heinrich Haussler (born 25 February 1984) is an Australian road racing cyclist of German heritage, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won 2 stages in Grand Tours during his career, one at the 2005 Vuelta a España and another at the ...

. This caused splits in the peloton and an elite group of riders were left to chase down the lead trio. Eventually

Marcus Burghardt Marcus Burghardt (born 30 June 1983) is a former German professional road bicycle racer, who has retired from professional racing as a result of a severe wrist injury suffered at the Tour of Poland in 2021, where he crashed at a roundabout clos ...

Francisco Ventoso Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (born 6 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2020, for the , , , and squads. Career Ventoso turned professional with in 2004 before moving t ...

, and

Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbe ...

joined the leaders with roughly 25 km to go. The six managed to hold off the remaining peloton and, with less than 1 km to go, Burghardt caught Freire by surprise and made the winning move. Burghardt's teammate, Hammond, managed to catch hold of Freire's wheel and overtook the Spaniard in the sprint for a one-two finish.

General Standings

;2007-04-11, Gent–Wevelgem,

References

External links

Race website2007 Gent-Wevelgem
on cyclingnews.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gent-Wevelgem, 2007 2007 2007 UCI ProTour 2007 in Belgian sport