With the loss of Tom Boonen, Omega Pharma-Quick Step put all of their eggs in Sylvain Chavanel's basket. The Frenchman was unable to follow the decisive attack by Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan and would have liked to play a more offensive role in the race. However, his favourite status prevented him making an early move in a race which was blocked by the fear for the difficult final circuits.

Prior to last year's Tour of Flanders, there was much discussion regarding the revamped course. Consensus was that the final circuits containing the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg would create a much harder race and as a consequence some were disappointed to see a large group sprint for the 4th place behind the winning trio of Tom Boonen, Filippo Pozzato and Alessandro Ballan.

Many expected greater familiarity with the course to produce a more offensive race this year, but those expectations were not fulfilled. With Jurgen Roelandts as the notable exception, none of the favourites dared to attempt a long-distance attack, and the race only exploded on the final passage of the Oude Kwaremont.

Sylvain Chavanel was one of the riders who had hoped for a more selective race. He attributed the lack of attacks to a fear for the difficulty of the circuits.

"When Cancellara and Sagan attacked I was on the wheel of Boasson Hagen," he said. "Cancellara and Sagan were really strong today, but personally I have no regrets. I think I did a good race. As one of the controlled guys of the races I couldn't attack from afar. The circuit is also so difficult that it blocked the race. Nobody wants to take the risk to jump before the last lap and I think that in the future things won't change a lot."

Chavanel's race was further complicated by the crash of teammate Tom Boonen who had to abandon the race. The Frenchman was sorry to see his teammate's string of bad luck continue.

"Today we also lost Tom. Tom has been unlucky since the beginning of the year, I feel so sorry for him. I saw all the effort he did to be in shape for this race. Unfortunately crashes are part of the race. Maybe if Tom was there, something could have changed."

Chavanel now looks forward to next Sunday's Paris-Roubaix where he hopes that a greater natural selection will benefit his changes.

"For Paris-Roubaix it's different. The cobblestone sections are longer and normally there is more natural selection, so it won't be a blocked race."

Kwiatkowski happy to be protagonist

After dominating the cobbled classics last year, Chavanel's 13th place was a huge disappointment for the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. However, the team's young Pole Michal Kwiatkowski was one of the race's main protagonists as the longest surviving member of an early breakaway.

The race debutant was caught by Cancellara and Sagan on the Oude Kwaremont, and he was tantalizingly close to crest the top in their company. He had to let go just a few meters before the end of the climb and was later caught by the chasing group.

The talented time trial specialist was happy with his impressive debut in the race.

"I had good legs today," he said. "That was a really hard day for me. I did my best, doing my best to try to stay in the front to help guys in the back so they could stay calm. I'm happy about my day. Unfortunately Tom had a crash in the beginning so that was really bad for us, and finally I was able to get in front for the team. I'm still young, I want to fight everywhere. That's why I say I had good legs today, and was looking for chances in the breakaway."

Kwiatkowski's early breakaway was caught by a group containing eventual podium finisher Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) just before the final passage of the Oude Kwaremont. In the run-in to the climb, Roelandts managed to escape in the company of Sebastien Hinault (IAM), and Kwiatkowski regretted not joining that crucial move.

"It was a mistake today that I didn't follow Roelandts before the Kwaremont because I could probably stay with him in the bottom. But Ok, Cancellara and Sagan came and I tried to follow the wheel of Sagan. In the last 50 meters I had tired legs and could not follow. I think I did a good job for the team with my situation today, and that's the most important thing."

Peeters: We missed Boonen

On a bleak day for last year's dominant team, Kwiatkowski's efforts were a consolation for the lack of results. Sports director Wilfried Peeters found it difficult to hide his disappointment and pointed to a defensive race and the crash of Boonen as the main reasons for the Belgian team's below-par performance.

"Kwiatkowski did a great race spending almost the entire day in the breakaway," hesaid. "He was impressive if you consider that it was his first Ronde. We knew that the last lap on the Kwaremont would have been the decisive moment of the race, but when the 2 strongest guys went, unfortunately we weren't able to follow. Except Roelandts, who wasn't among the favourites, nobody made a move before the last lap. The race was really blocked, everybody was waiting and looking at each other. As a team we did a good race. With Tom in the race we could have played more tactically."

Boonen: The strongest man won

Team leader Tom Boonen was disappointed to leave his team without its leader early in the race, and in his absence the team was unable to produce a real challenge to his archrival, Cancellara. However, the Belgian champion was impressed by the dominance of Spartacus.

"It was a nice race and the strongest won," Boonen said. "Everybody was expecting something, but at the end the two strongest guys went away. Omega Pharma-Quick Step did a good race. It's more painful not to be there if we consider the strong collective race they did. Congratulations to Cancellara. Concerning me, I have time to come back and for sure I will try again next year."

The team will now try to take revenge in Wednesday's Scheldeprijs where Mark Cavendish will lead the team, and in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix.