Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team raced Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne to perfection on Sunday. Sensing a delay in the peloton on the Oude Kwaremont, Stijn Vandenbergh accelerated on the front when OPQS happened to be in good position nearby at about 73km to go.

Catching most teams in a vulnerable moment, OPQS and Belkin Pro Cycling Team took advantage of the unexpected situation, causing a 10-rider race split with a few riders up the road in a breakaway. Vandenbergh, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Matteo Trentin, Tom Boonen, and Nikolas Maes worked brilliantly together as they quickly established a gap on a peloton that was slow to react. They caught the breakaway and kept the tempo high.

This turned out to be the action of the day. The gap stayed at about a minute for the remainder of the race thanks to a lead group that worked very well together. Maes was able to stay with Boonen until the sprint, while Vandenbergh, Van Keirsbulck, and Trentin put in tremendous work to maintain the gap, and also neutralize an attack by Maarten Wynants (Belkin Pro Cycling Team) with 3.6km to go.

OPQS remained calm on the front and once Wynants was caught, even Vandenbergh was able to get a small gap on the field before he was caught with a little more than a kilometer to go.

The lead group then spread across the road approaching the final sprint. Boonen, who was well protected by Maes, launched his sprint early. He was able to hold his power to the line and added a bike throw for good measure. His victory was truly one that can be credited to the entire team as the tactics, and the efforts of all riders, were flawless.

Moreno Hofland (Belkin ProCycling Team) was 2nd, and Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin ProCycling Team) was third. Vandenbergh — after working on the front all day and causing the initial split — was 5th, Van Keirsbulck 7th, Maes 8th, and Trentin 9th after giving his all to catch back onto the group with a kilometer remaining.

“I’m very happy about this victory especially if I think about yesterday’s race," Tom Boonen said. "Today I felt good the entire day, I was completely recovered and this was a good sign. We did our race, we controlled the other teams and then on the Oude Kwaremont we accelerated.

"To be honest it wasn’t something programmed. Stijn Vandenbergh did a good tempo and at the top, after the false flat, we realized that we were all in the front. So we upped the pace and we went. It was still far from the finish and maybe a bit risky, but also the other teams who had to chase were tired. Fortunately, we had three Belkin riders in the group and they really work hard with us. Everybody in the group worked hard to go to the finish.

"We all believed in this action. To me it was better to arrive in a small group instead of facing a bunch sprint, so we made the race hard. In the final I was a bit nervous because we could only lose this race with five of us in the front. In the last 20 kilometers we started to think about the sprint. I was expecting more attacks but there was a lot of wind and it wasn’t easy to attack.

"If you attack here, it's still 55km after the last climb. If groups ride away here, it's because the weather's foul. The way we did it doesn't happen often. It clearly depends on the strength of the lead group. Nikolas Maes accelerated on the Kruisberg [with 97km to go] but I told him not to do it because nobody would want to ride with us. I told them to save everything for the sprint. That was the plan and we did exactly the opposite."

"We arrived well grouped near the front of the peloton at the foot of the Oude Kwaremont. Stijn Vandenbergh took the initiative and accelerated. We ended up with a group of 10 riders, but it made no sense to push on. I wanted to wait for the next group because we would kill ourselves.

"In the end, I'm really glad we tried it. It became a very nice race. It showed how strong we are as a team. Winning as a collective is the nicest way to win a race. Especially because you don't plan to do it before the race. Then you roll into it and hesitate. Then, together you start to work for it. Suddenly it's a matter of honour. You decide to go for it. 'They're not going get us and we'll see what happens.'"

"It was fun that everybody kept going for it. We had everything to lose. Three teams were riding behind us and in the past a similar situation always brought the lead group back. The eight men from our team and Belkin were really strong guys. Luckily everybody was obliged to work very hard to create our lead. When hitting the local circuit of two laps everybody was dead tired. I expected attacks but the wind was our companion. Puncheurs like Maarten and Sep had nowhere to go. There were four men to chase an attacker down.

"It was a sprint of dying swans, after 70km on the attack. I'm glad I won it because otherwise it would've been a disgrace," he added. "This win is taking away a lot of questions and provides me with one quiet week until Paris-Nice. All the expectations about my so-called good form are now confirmed."

"Once you've won, it's possible to say that it's very important, that it's indispensable for the upcoming weeks. Before the opening weekend, I already knew I was going well. Yesterday didn't change that. I know I can't handle the cold. I even threw up during the race because my stomach was cramping. That's never going to change. It was the first time I had rain this season and that came as a shock. It didn't have anything to do with form. It was an accident de parcours.

"I'm a happy man. Hopefully, I can remain healthy for about two weeks, add some percentages in Paris-Nice and then the big races can come."

Everybody has agreed that Vanmarcke was the strongest rider in the opening weekend. However, Boonen was not too impressed.

"For two days, his good weekend will be talked about but then it's over and only the result remains," he said, before admitting that he had been uncertain about what to expect from Hofland. "I didn't know what to expect from Moreno. He rode very strong but just not strong enough to win here."

Boonen regarded his record-breaking third win as a big one.

"There's two races in the opening weekend. We lost one and we won one. I'm glad I won it. Yesterday was in my top-five of coldest days in my career. Kuurne is one of the season-opening races, one of the most important races in the spring season. It's my first small record this year. There's a few more that I've targeted. If I can take just one of them, then my career has succeeded, not only my season," Boonen said, referring to a possible fourth win in the Tour of Flanders and a possible fifth win in Paris-Roubaix.

Boonen will now target Milan-Sanremo and is delighted that the Pompeiana is no longer part of the course.

"There's always a stage with crosswinds so I have my chances in the first few stages. Otherwise it's a long week. So hopefully we can win a stage. Some guys in our team made the GC a goal so we'll have enough work on our plate. San Remo was already a goal, but now that's even more the case because the course is back in my favour. The oldest course is the nicest one. [The climb] Le Manie isn't such a problem for me. The peloton often splits there but that's not a problem. It might be my last chance to do something there as there may never be such an opportunity again. The course is a gift of god for me and then it'll be over.

"I have to thank the whole team. We showed once again that we are a good group. Aftet the winter I understood that I was ok, that I was ready for a good season. I won at Tour of Qatar but of course this race in my home country has a special taste, even if it doesn't change a lot. As usual we will check ’the balance' of my first part of the season after Roubaix, but of course this weekend makes me confident for the upcoming weeks."

"It was very nice to have five guys in a group of 10 riders," Vandenbergh, the rider who caused the split, said after the race. "At the Oude Kwaremont we had picked up the tempo and happened to get a gap. After that, with the wind it was a little bit like racing in Qatar. We did a good job, and all of the riders in the breakaway worked well together. It was a hard race. Not hard like yesterday with the rain and the cold, but when you are in front you have to ride hard to maintain the gap.

"Yesterday we did a good job, but lost some guys due to the cold. Today we showed we are one of the strongest teams for the Classics. That's a good sign for us, but also for Tom to show he is back on the level of a couple years ago. It's good for his confidence, and a day like today is good for the confidence of the whole team."

"We have a really strong team, and I think after Tour of Qatar we gave another demonstration of just how strong the team is," OPQS CEO Patrick Lefevere said. "We are a Belgian team, we have Belgian sponsors, so of course doing well in a Belgian race is important. But it's everyone on the team who wants to win — a group of diverse nationalities. I am happy not just that we won today, but it's the way we won. As for Tom Boonen, he is back on the level that he was in 2012, the level everyone knows. I am very proud of the team effort today and that Tom was able to complete the job."