Cycling: Rookie Sergent makes his mark

Jesse Sergent. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand cyclist Jesse Sergent has collected his first road title on European soil by winning the Driedaagse van Westvlaanderen in Belgium.

He finished 12th, safely tucked among the lead group in today's 195.5km second stage, to protect his lead on general classification.

Sergent was credited with the same time as the stage winner, Belgian Niko Eckhout, to complete the race ahead of another Belgian and his RadioShack teammate Sebastien Rosseler.

RadioShack completed a hat-trick on general classification, with Poland's Michal Kwiatkowskki third.

Sergent, in his first ProTour year, had won the opening time trial to take the race lead, which he never relinquished.

The RadioShack team put their leaders near the front of the race early today to avoid being caught behind any splits on a blustery day, but Sergent said he never thought the lead group would stay clear to the end.

"It's always better to be in the front than to chase the whole day, but that was not really my intention," he told cyclingnews.com.

"I never thought that we would stay in the front for 175k, but we did because (Nelson) Oliveira, Rosseler and Kwiatkowski worked so hard for me today. It's unreal what they did.

"It's unreal what I have now too. I just won my first stage race as a pro rider."

Sergent may have started the season as a relative unknown in professional road cycling, but his success is not unprecedented.

After claiming the silver medal in the pursuit at the track world championships last year, he won the time trial stage in the Tour of Gila over specialists Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie.

"The people who only follow road cycling will know me soon enough now," Sergent said.

"I will still do the track and will enjoy it and will work toward the next Olympic Games, but you will see me more and more on the road. After London 2012 I will probably be a fulltime road cyclist."

- NZPA