Tour of Flanders (2011) Photos April 3rd

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76 km from the finish is the Koppenberg (682m long, 9% average grade, 19% max grade). The green grass and moss between the Koppenberg stones are an indication this area gets plenty of rain and not much car traffic.	Recreational cyclists at the base of the Koppenberg	Koppenberg: the 19% section that causes the most problems
Koppenberg: the view looking down from the 19% section	Recreational riders giving in	Koppenberg
Koppenberg: Even the pros can have problems. Liquigas' Peter Sagan and Daniel Oss out practicing for Sunday's race		Koppenberg: Liquigas' Peter Sagan shows how it is done on a subsequent pass
Koppenberg: Old farts were strewn all over the road when Lampre passed through.	This kind of simulates the carnage of race day	You can't buy great memories like this. This guy broke his hip, but did not suffer a heart attack as earlier reported. Coincidentally, a steephill.tv viewer, Naa Oyo Kwate from California, was near the scene and sent in a iPhone recon video of Lampre and recreational riders just before these incidents on the steep section
Muur-Kapelmuur is 15km from the finish: 9% avg, 19% max, 1075m long	The section at the top of Muur-Kapelmuur is the last big test with 15 km to go	On sunday this hill will be covered with people...
Fans at the top during last year's race	On some of climbs like the Patersberg, that have the space, temporary structures are set up	Ingenious high-density bike parking in Brakel. For more photos, see last year's recon shots

Stage 2:    Full Results and Report

A panoramic of the start in Bruges with 258 km ahead for the peloton	The first half of the race is flat; riders riding past the flags of Flanders	Patersberg climb (8 of 18) with 81 km to go: Roger Hammond (Garmin - Cervelo) and Mitchell Docker (Skil Shimano) going over first as part of a four man break
Belgians are bike racing crazy if you couldn't tell	The main break with 15 km: Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) followed by Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) first over Muur-Kapelmuur (climb 17 of 18) with Philippe Gilbert about to join them	The leaders greeted at the top of Muur-Kapelmuur by a few of the estimated 600,000-800,000 people along the route
Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank) not far behind much to the delight of the Belgian crowd	Philippe Gilbert throwing down an attack on the final of 18 climbs, the Bosberg, with 10 km to go. (Better photo coming)	Some many riders looked like they could have won this race in the last 20 km, but it came down to these three
Today's top 10 perfectly captured in one photo...	An incredibly exciting finale is won by Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank) in just over 6 hours ahead of Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) and Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek)	Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank) knows what it feels like to finish 2nd at Tour of Flanders (which he did in 2008)
Nothing like winning a thrilling finish to one of the Monuments; Nuyens celebrates his first classic win.	Past winner Tom Boonen was 4th (+ 2s)	BMC's George Hincapie was 6th
These guys paid the price for the their work in the final 10 kms: Philippe Gilbert and Geraint Thomas rounded out the top 10	Life will never be the same for Nick Nuyens	Fabian Cancellara was strong today, but he wasn't invincible
Your 2011 Tour of Flanders winner, Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank)		Your 2011 Tour of Flanders Podium: 2nd Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), 1st Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank) and 3rd Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek)
Thumbs up is right... no one will forget this one