page_title: 2015 Gent–Wevelgem
section_title: Pre-race favourites
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Gent–Wevelgem / Pre-race favourites
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Reportage photographique réalisé le dimanche 30 mars à l'occasion de l'arrivée de Gand-Wevelgem 2014 à Wevelgem, Belgique. Nederlands: Aankomst, zondag 30 maart 2014, Gent-Wevelgem 2014, Wevelgem, België. Depicted people&#58; &#32;Arnaud Démare, John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan Depicted team: FDJ.fr, Giant-Shimano, Cannondale
context_page_description: The 2015 Gent–Wevelgem was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Belgium and France on 29 March 2015. It was the 77th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race; it took place on 29 March and was the seventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was John Degenkolb, who had won the 2014 edition in a bunch sprint.
  Gent–Wevelgem is part of the spring classics season and is known as the "sprinter's classic", because its terrain is less challenging than most of the other classics. The 2015 edition followed a 239.1-kilometre route that started in Deinze and ended in Wevelgem. The race took place in difficult weather conditions with heavy wind and rain; as a result, only 39 riders finished the race of the 200 who had started. The race was won by Luca Paolini, who attacked a small group in the final 6 kilometres and took a solo victory. Niki Terpstra sprinted to second place, ahead of Geraint Thomas.
context_section_description: The 2015 Gent–Wevelgem was without two of the main classics riders, Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), both of whom had been injured in races earlier in the spring. However, their absence was not expected to affect the race as much as it would other races in the classics season, such as the Tour of Flanders the following weekend, as Gent-Wevelgem is particularly suited to sprinters. This is because it has fewer climbs than the other spring classics; difficulty often comes from crosswinds on the exposed parts of West Flanders.
  The defending champion, John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin), was the principal favourite for victory before the race. He had won Milan–San Remo the week before and was in good form. Degenkolb is seen as a sprinter, but has good ability at getting over short climbs, having had no difficulty on the Kemmelberg in the 2014 Gent–Wevelgem.
  Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), who was second in Milan–San Remo and fourth a few days earlier at E3 Harelbeke, was also among the favourites, especially in the bad weather expected for Gent–Wevelgem. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo), the 2013 champion, was also in form following E3 Harelbeke, and was expected to be able to win either from a bunch sprint or from an attack.
  The Etixx–Quick-Step team was also expected to feature strongly in the race, even in Boonen's absence. They were led by Mark Cavendish, one of the strongest sprinters, who had already won Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, which is similar to Gent–Wevelgem. Other options for the team included Zdeněk Štybar, second in E3 Harelbeke. Team Sky also brought a strong squad. Their team included Geraint Thomas, the winner of E3 Harelbeke, Ian Stannard, the winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Bradley Wiggins, but they were expected to support sprinter Elia Viviani.
  There were many other riders considered to have a chance of victory in the race. These included classics riders such as Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo), Daniel Oss and Greg Van Avermaet (both BMC Racing Team) and sprinters such as André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal), Arnaud Démare (FDJ), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Sam Bennett (Bora–Argon 18), Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling), Sacha Modolo (Lampre–Merida), Adam Blythe (Orica–GreenEDGE), Tyler Farrar and Edvald Boasson Hagen (both MTN–Qhubeka). Moreno Hofland (LottoNL–Jumbo) was also expected to be among the favourites, but he withdrew the day before the race with an illness.
caption: John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin) won the 2014 Gent–Wevelgem (podium ceremony photographed) and was among the favourites for the 2015 race.
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