2012 E3 Harelbeke

The 2012 E3 Harelbeke was the 55th running of the E3 Harelbeke single-day cycling race.^[1] It was held on 23 March over a distance of 203 kilometres (126.1 miles) and was the sixth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season. E3 Harelbeke was held as a UCI World Tour event for the first time,^[2] after previously being held as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour.^[3] As well as its promotion to the World Tour, the race moved to a Friday running from a Saturday; the move was in order to give riders a day's break prior to the following World Tour event, Gent–Wevelgem.^[4]

Stijn Devolder leads over the Muur

2012 E3 Harelbeke

2012 UCI World Tour, race 6 of 28
Race details
Dates	23 March 2012
Stages	1
Distance	203 km (126.1 mi)
Winning time	4h 51' 59"
Results
Winner  Tom Boonen (Belgium) (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step)   Second  Óscar Freire (Spain) (Team Katusha)   Third  Bernhard Eisel (Austria) (Team Sky)
← 2011 2013 →

In a mass sprint finish, the race was won by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen,^[5] who in the process, became the most successful rider in the history of the race; his fifth victory – after four previous victories in succession between 2004 and 2007 – in Harelbeke took him beyond the record tally of four victories that he had been sharing with fellow Belgian rider Rik Van Looy.^[6] Boonen finished ahead of Team Katusha's Óscar Freire and Team Sky's Bernhard Eisel, who completed the podium.^[7]

Teams

Route of E3 Harelbeke 2012

As E3 Harelbeke was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Seven other squads were given wildcard places into the race,^[8] and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton.

The 25 teams that competed in the race were:^[9]

• Accent.jobs–Willems Veranda's
• Ag2r–La Mondiale
• Astana
• BMC Racing Team
• Cofidis
• Team Europcar
• Euskaltel–Euskadi
• Farnese Vini–Selle Italia
• FDJ–BigMat
• Garmin–Barracuda
• GreenEDGE
• Team Katusha
• Lampre–ISD
• Landbouwkrediet–Euphony
• Liquigas–Cannondale
• Lotto–Belisol
• Movistar Team
• Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
• Project 1t4i
• Rabobank
• RadioShack–Nissan
• Team Saxo Bank
• Team Sky
• Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator
• Vacansoleil–DCM

Results

Trophy of 2012 E3 Harelbeke won by Tom Boonen (collection KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing)

^[10]

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Tom Boonen (BEL)	Omega Pharma–Quick-Step	4h 51' 59"
2	Óscar Freire (ESP)	Team Katusha	s.t.
3	Bernhard Eisel (AUT)	Team Sky	s.t.
4	Leonardo Duque (COL)	Cofidis	s.t.
5	Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)	Garmin–Barracuda	s.t.
6	John Degenkolb (GER)	Project 1t4i	s.t.
7	Mathieu Ladagnous (FRA)	FDJ–BigMat	s.t.
8	Alexandre Pichot (FRA)	Team Europcar	s.t.
9	Alessandro Ballan (ITA)	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
10	Sébastien Turgot (FRA)	Team Europcar	s.t.