Wanty-Groupe Gobert took the start in Harelbeke with Bjorn Leukemans, returning from illness, Simone Antonini, Tom Devriendt, Frederik Backaert, Marco Marcato, Mirko Selvaggi, James Vanlandschoot and Frederik Veuchelen. The riders faced 218 kilometres on narrow Flemish roads before the finish in Harelbeke. 

The race saw a lot of crashes with big names like Cancellara, Boom and Langeveld involved. Also Wanty-Groupe Gobert didn't get a free pass. 

"On the Taaienberg, Frederik Veuchelen crashed hard. He has pain in his left leg. We'll have him checked in hospital and see how it goes from there," Hilaire Van der Schueren said after the finish.

"It was a nervous race. Everyone knows they have to be at the front. Plus, everyone is riding around with Tour of Flanders on their minds already. It's therefore not surprising so many crashes took place." 

The story of the E3-Prijs Harelbeke involved a six-man breakaway getting a maximum lead of nine minutes. The peloton didn't panic and reeled the breakaway back in. From the Oude Kwaremont the race started in earnest. Geraint Thomas, Zdenek Stybar and Peter Sagan attacked from the peloton. Unfortunately Wanty-Groupe Gobert wasn't present in this decisive move.

"Bjorn was a bit too far back at that moment. He had a flat tyre at a difficult time and lost energy chasing back, something he already had to do earlier in the race after a crash. However, he did manage to return to the first group." 

In the final the team had two riders in the peloton. Leukemans sprinted to 12th while Marcato had to settle for 15th.

"The guys are getting better and better. Marcato feels a lot better than last Wednesday. I think they are ready for what's coming up. From now on we can set