By Luke Lambert

CHELMSFORD cyclist Ian Stannard defied the odds to successfully defend his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title in Belgium on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Team Sky rider looked as though he would be pipped to the finish line by a trio of Ettix-QuickStep racers as the cobbled one-day race entered its final throws.

Stannard sprung off the back of a lead-out train featuring three Classic specialists – Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh – to race over the line in first place.

And he said the tactics of his opponents played into his hands.

“I was a little bit worried about it because I thought they were going to attack me pretty hard but the group was only 20 seconds behind so they couldn’t play too much and I could play poker at the back,” Stannard told Cycling Weekly.

“Tom tried to attack me [with 5km to go] and I rode back up. When you ride up to a guy like that you know your legs are pretty good. I went over the top of him, then Niki came up to me, and I was aware Tom was just behind. Niki went a bit early in the sprint and shielded me from the wind a bit and I just had to grit my teeth.”

Stannard is expected to feature prominently for Team Sky this season, having broken his back at Ghent-Wevelgem last March.