Steven de Jongh won the 60th edition of Nokere Koerse under brilliant spring sunshine. The start was given in Oudenaarde in the area of the Tour of Flanders Center by Prime Minister Yves Leterme. After a large approach loop through all Oudenaarde sub-municipalities, the UCI 1.1 race reached its conclusion before a massive crowd during 10 local laps.

Today, 7 teams with the highly coveted ProTour status came to the start. However, the stars were absent, except for Steven de Jongh from Rabobank. In 2002, he already finished 3rd in Nokere. As the favorite, he waited until the final lap to unleash his power. In the large approach loop, a group of 18 riders tried to break away, including Ludo Dierckxens, always an early bird. But unfortunately for Ludo, the early breakaway did not last long.

In the third local lap, a serious breakaway of 6 riders was formed: Frederic Amorison, Bjorn Leukemans, Marcus Burghardt, Niels Scheuneman, Maxime Monfort and Eddy Seigneur. The group of 6 had a maximum lead of 4 minutes 30 seconds, but under pressure from Chocolade Jacques, a regrouping occurred.

Eventually, the peloton completely breaks apart in the final lap, as a group of about twenty riders speeds away.

In the sprint, Steven de Jongh wins by several lengths ahead of Igor Abakoumov, Geert Omloop, Eric Bauman and Marc Walters. His comment after the race: “I had seen the photo of Max Van Heeswijk, winner in 2004, in the program booklet. The 2nd place finisher was barely visible in the photo. I wanted to do the same this year.”

Results:
(193.2 km – time: 4 hours 29 minutes – speed: 43.85 km per hour).

1 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank
2 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team
3 Geert Omloop (Bel) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
4 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile
5 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
6 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Wiesenhof
7 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
8 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Colnago
9 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Landbouwkrediet – Colnago
10 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon – Lotto
11 Koen Barbé (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim
12 Christoph Von Kleinsorgen (Ger) Lamonta
13 Paul Van Schalen (Ned) AXA
14 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone
15 Joost Van Leijen (Ned) Van Vliet – EBH Advocaten
16 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano – Memory Corp
17 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
18 André Greipel (Ger) Wiesenhof 0.14
19 Jos Pronk (Ned) Eurogifts.com 0.18
20 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen 0.56
21 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone
22 David Boucher (Fra) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
23 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lamonta 1.06
24 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.19
25 Martin Müller (Ger) Wiesenhof
26 Peter Ronsse (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team 1.39
27 Robert Haynes (Gbr) 1.47
28 Nick Ingels (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen 1.52
29 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Colnago 2.12
30 Jos Lucassen (Ned) AXA 2.19
31 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) R.A.G.T Semences 2.40
32 Peter Möhlmann (Ned) AXA 2.53
33 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen
34 Martyn Maaskant (Ned) Van Vliet – EBH Advocaten
35 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim
36 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
37 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
38 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
39 Jeroen Van Rij (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen
40 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon – Lotto
41 Cameron Jennings (Aus) Team Cyclingnews.com
42 Robert Retschke (Ger) ComNet – Senges
43 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank
44 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders
45 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux
46 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française des Jeux
47 Jose Antonio Garrido (Spa)
48 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep
49 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux
50 Pascal Hermes (Ned) AXA
51 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
52 Christian Knees (Ger) Wiesenhof
53 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
54 Sam Van Rooy (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen
55 Frank Dressler (Ger) ComNet – Senges
56 Stefan Cohnen (Ned) Lamonta
57 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
58 Sven Nevens (Bel) Amuzza.com-Davo
59 Johan Svensson (Swe) Jartazi Granville Team
60 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim
61 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon – Lotto
62 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) AXA
63 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
64 Elnathan Heizmann (Ger) ComNet – Senges
65 Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel)
66 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank
67 Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu) Jartazi Granville Team
68 Robby Meul (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team
69 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
70 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile
71 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone
72 Kristof Trouve (Bel) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
73 Kirk O’Bee (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
74 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
75 Glenn D’Hollander (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Colnago
76 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life – Jong Vlaanderen
77 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon – Lotto
78 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim
79 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux
80 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Colnago
81 Sébastien Minard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences
82 Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
83 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux
84 Yohann Gène (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
85 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
86 Christophe Stevens (Bel) Skil Moser
87 Wouter Mol (Ned) Skil Moser
88 Nick Gates (Aus) Davitamon – Lotto
89 Peter Mazur (Pol) Skil Moser
90 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim
91 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Skil Moser
92 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon – Lotto
93 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) MrBookmaker.com – SportsTech
94 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – T Interim