Belgium’s Stijn Devolder won the 261.5km Tour of Flanders spring classic cycle race for the second year in a row here on Sunday.

Germany’s Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) finished second, with Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) third ahead of a big crash in the race’s closing stages that saw a number of riders tumble to the tarmac.

On a sun-kissed spring day in northern Belgium, the Quick Step man powered away from team-mate Sylvain Chavanel, Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) and underdog Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) with 15km to go and cruised to victory.

Devolder pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line in front of a delighted home crowd.

“I dedicate this victory to Frederiek Nolf (who died in his sleep during the Tour of Qatar earlier this year) who was a friend of mine,” said Devolder.

“I pointed to the sky from where he was watching the race. I was very emotional.”

Belgium’s premier cycling race features a 130km flat stretch followed by 16 steep hill climbs – some of which take place on winding cobbled streets – and is regarded as one of professional cycling’s most grueling assignments.

Wim De Vocht (Vacansoleil) and Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) made the first breakaway 125km to the finish but were sucked back towards the chasing group during the fiendish Koppenberg climb.

Koppenberg, a cobbled 600m ascent with a maximum gradient of 22 per cent, spread the peloton apart, with Swiss Saxo Bank rider Fabian Cancellara forced out of the race after breaking his chain.

Italy’s Quinziato, Frenchman Chavanel and Belgium’s three-time runner-up Leif Hoste (Silence-Lotto) led a six-man leading group that pulled away with 50km remaining.

The leaders, though, were gradually reeled in by the heavyweights in the chasing pack, led by Devolder and his Belgian team-mate Tom Boonen and Italy’s Filippo Pozzato (Katusha).

With three riders up top Quick Step looked to be in a superb position, but with just under 28km to go the peloton closed in on the pace-setters to set up an intriguing finale.

Twenty kilometers from home, Devolder and Van Hecke burst clear of the peloton to catch up with front-runners Quinziato and Chavanel approaching the penultimate climb, the Muur-Kapelmuur.

Photo by: CorVos Pro