Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) won the Eneco Tour final stage time trial in the Belgian city of Genk to confirm his overall victory in the race. Last man to start, Martin completed the course in 20’24”, at an average speed of almost 50kph, to beat the previous best time set by Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) by 6 seconds. Alex Rasmussen (Saxo Bank), who had set the early best time, hung on to take third place, 9 seconds back.
"Winning the last time trial is a truly perfect way of ending the race, and it will keep me really motivated for the final part of the year," Martin said after the race. "It's a great feeling to have taken such an important win, and I'm now on track for my next few targets.
"I'll ease back a little bit now,” he added, “and then start my final build-up for the World Championships Time Trial in Australia with a ride in the Tour of Britain.
“I can't say what will happen in the World Championships,” continued the young German, “and it'll be hard to beat [defending champion] Fabian Cancellara, but I've been working hard on my time trialling and we'll see how it goes."
Rasmussen was 31st rider to start by virtue of his lowly position in the overall classification; his time of 20’33” easily outstripped the previous best time of 21’07, which had been set by Adriano Malori (Lampre-Farnese Vini).
No one was able to get close to the Danes performance for a long time; not long after Rasmussen, newly crowned Belgian time trial champion Stijn Devolder was a full minute slower in 21’33”. Bert Grabsch (HTC-Columbia) became the closest yet, but as he could go no better than 21’05” there was still only one rider to go under 21 minutes.
At last Nicolas Castroviejo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was able to break the 21 minute barrier with 20’51, but he was still 21 seconds slower than Rasmussen; Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) then went within 11 seconds of the Dane.
The next rider after Porte was Lars Boom (Rabobank); the former Dutch champion looked like he may be about to challenge for the lead until a puncture ruined his chances. The 24-year-old still managed to post a time of 21’04” though, meaning he would have been close if he had not suffered the puncture.
It was not until the top riders started that Tjallingii finally deposed Rasmussen with a time of 20’30”, 3 seconds faster.
Canadian champion Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions), the winner of the prologue, was unable to reproduce that form and finished on exactly 21 minutes, while Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) lost just 18 seconds to the Dutchman. It meant that the Norwegian was to hang on to the final podium place at worst, but it would take a disaster for the riders ahead for him to move up any further.
Second place overall Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) finished in a time of 20’44”, just 14 seconds slower than teammate Tjallingii. The veteran Dutchman needed to take 11 seconds from Martin though and the German was flying around the course, setting the fastest time at all checkpoints.
The World Championship bronze medallist from Mendrisio, Switzerland last year crossed the line in 20’24” to beat Tjallingii and increase his lead over Moerenhout by a further 20 seconds and win the race overall.
Result stage 7
1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Columbia 20’24”
2. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank @ 6s
3. Alex Rasmussen (Den) Team Saxo Bank @ 9s
4. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank @ 20s
5. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky @ 24s
7. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank
8. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 27s
9. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack @ 33s
10. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Transitions @ 36s
Final overall standings
1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Columbia
2. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank @ 31s
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky @ 1’46”
4. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank @ 1’57”
5. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Transitions @ 2’04”
6. Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank @ 2’11”
7. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank @ 2’17”
8. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack @ 2’18”
9. Dominique Cornu (Bel) Skil-Shimano @ 2’35”
10. Jürgen Roelandts (Bel) OmegaPharma-Lotto @ 2’37”