Tom Boonen was cheered home by thousands of exstatic Belgians, as he wound up his big sprint and his Classics season with a well earned win in the oldest race in Belgium, the 94th Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen.

This race is always a day for the fastmen and the UK’s leading bunch sprinter Jeremy Hunt racked up another top ten finish in a very consistent start to the 2006 season.

Bad news for Peter Van Petegem as he crashed and bust his collarbone. Better news for George Hincapie as he won’t need surgery on his shoulder injury sustained in a crash at Paris-Roubaix last weekend. The big New Yorker should be back riding in a week or so.

94th Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen – Results – 200 km

1. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Innergetic 4.31.00 (44.28 km/h)
2. Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep-Innergetic
3. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
4. Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
5. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
6. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas
7. Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
8. Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano
9. Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Unibet.com
10. René Weissinger (Ger) Skil-Shimano