"Things were looking good for a Mapei win now as Meerbeke loomed. Tafi saw two of his supporters on the right side of the road with a "Tafi" banner and took heart; he was the strongest in the break, so he dropped back to the tail of the group, waiting for just the right moment to launch his last salvos.

With 5 km to race, Van Petegem was nervous; he kept looking back at Tafi but in a moment's inattention, Tafi launched yet again at the 4 km mark, Van Petegem let him go and Museeuw and Hincapie just couldn't close the gap alone.

The Tuscan got 50 meters gap - just 5 seconds lead - and there he stayed, but it was enough. No one wanted to sacrifice their chances pulling back Tafi, who was just gaining momentum as the finish line got closer.

As the three chasers and Nardello made the sweeping right onto Halsesteenweg with 1.5 km to race, they all realized that Andrea Tafi, pounding his 53 x11, had made his final attack of the day stick, and would thus win the 86th Tour of Flanders. The large, and very partisan Belgian crowd realised this too, and watched in stunned silence as Tafi rode the last 500 meters to victory."