| 2012 Gent–Wevelgem | |
| Series: | 2012 UCI World Tour |
| Race No: | 7 |
| Season No: | 28 |
| Date: | 25 March |
| Stages: | 1 |
| Distance: | 234.6 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 5h 32' 44" |
| Speed: | 42.304 |
| First: | Tom Boonen |
| First Nat: | Belgium |
| Second: | Peter Sagan |
| Second Nat: | Slovakia |
| Third: | Matti Breschel |
| Third Nat: | Denmark |
| Previous: | 2011 |
| Next: | 2013 |
The 2012 Gent–Wevelgem was the 74th running of the Gent–Wevelgem single-day cycling race. It was held on 25 March 2012 over a distance of 234.6km (145.8miles),[1] and was the seventh race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
In a mass sprint finish, the race was won by rider Tom Boonen,[2] who in the process, became the fifth different rider to win the race three times. Boonen finished ahead of 's Peter Sagan and 's Matti Breschel, who completed the podium.[3]
As Gent–Wevelgem 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,[4] and as such, formed the event's 25-team peloton. Each team could enter up to eight riders, with the starting peloton being 195 riders.[5]
The 25 teams that competed in the race were:[5]
| Cyclist | Team | Time | UCI World Tour Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5h 32' 44" | 80 | |||
| 2 | s.t. | 60 | |||
| 3 | s.t. | 50 | |||
| 4 | s.t. | 40 | |||
| 5 | s.t. | 30 | |||
| 6 | s.t. | 22 | |||
| 7 | s.t. | 14 | |||
| 8 | s.t. | 10 | |||
| 9 | s.t. | – | |||
| 10 | s.t. | 2 |
A women's race was held for the first time in 2012, on the same day as the men's race but over a shorter course of 114km (71miles). rider Lizzie Armitstead won after a solo breakaway of nearly 40km (30miles).[7]
| Cyclist | Team | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2h 49' 46" | |||
| 2 | + 51" | |||
| 3 | + 51" | |||
| 4 | Hitec Products–Mistral Home Cycling Team | + 51" | ||
| 5 | + 55" |