2016 E3 Harelbeke
| 2016 UCI World Tour, race 6 of 28 | |||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | 25 March 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 206.4 km (128.3 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 4h 49' 34" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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| Winner |
 Michał Kwiatkowski (POL)
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(Team Sky) | |
| Second |
 Peter Sagan (SVK)
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(Tinkoff) | |
| Third |
 Ian Stannard (GBR)
|
(Team Sky) |
The 2016 E3 Harelbeke (officially the Record Bank E3 Harelbeke) was a one-day cycling classic that took place on Friday 25 March 2016. It was the 59th edition of the E3 Harelbeke; it was the second one-day race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the first of the cobbled classics.
The race started and finished in Harelbeke, covering a distance of 206.4 kilometres (128.3 mi). The principal difficulty in the race came from the fifteen climbs of hills in the Flemish Ardennes. These mainly came in the second half of the race. The principal favourites for victory were Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo).
The race was won by Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky). He formed a breakaway 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the finish with Sagan and, despite hard work from the Etixx–Quick-Step team and from Cancellara, they came to the finish together. Kwiatkowski comfortably won the sprint and Sagan took second place. Kwiatkowski's teammate Ian Stannard won the group sprint for third place, eleven seconds behind.
The E3 Harelbeke starts and finishes in the city of Harelbeke in West Flanders. The principal difficulty in the race comes from the climbs – many of them cobbled – that appear in the 205-kilometre (127 mi) route; many of these climbs also appear in the Tour of Flanders, including the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. In 2016, there were several changes to the route from previous years, with a shorter distance and fewer climbs; Cycling Weekly suggested that these could make the race slightly easier than previous editions.
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