Linus Gerdemann’s victory in the Tour of Luxembourg was confirmed today as the final stage between Mersch and the city of Luxembourg finished in another bunch sprint. Victory on the day was taken by French sprinter Roman Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM), who outpaced Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek) after a final kilometre attack from the Luxembourg champion. Pieter Vanspeybroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) was third a short way behind them.
“From the outside, this win might have looked easy,” said Gerdemann. “It wasn’t. It was tough work. The team dedicated themselves to winning, and I can’t thank them enough. We had such a strong team. It was probably the strongest team I’ve had in my whole career. Working together on all five stages made this possible, and I’m so happy it worked out for us.”
The 152.1km stage began with a 30.5km circuit, based on the steep climb of the Côte de Steinsel. Shortly after the climb Kurt Asle Arvesen (Team Sky), Arkimedes Arguelyes (Katusha), Antonio Piedra (Andalucia-Caja Granada) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) escaped. The four riders were allowed to build an advantage of 3’20” before the Leopard Trek team decided to begin to close them down.
As the leaders climbed the Seningerberg, with a little over 50km to go, Arvesen and Delaplace pulled away from the other two. Their lead over the peloton was down to 1’30” but, as the four of them got back together again, it increased to two minutes once more as they hit the five 7.7km finishing circuits.
“The circuit in the city was tricky. It was up and down the entire time,” explained Gerdemann. “The climb before the finish line was tough, and it made for a nervous finale.”
On the second of the five laps, the four breakaways were finally captured; Leopard Trek was still very much in control, but they were getting help from Liquigas-Cannondale and Vacansoleil-DCM.
On the penultimate lap there was an attack from Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), but he was never able to get far due to the pace set by Leopard Trek riders Fabian Cancellara and Jakob Fuglsang. The Frenchman was caught during the final lap and a sprint appeared to be on.
Fränk Schleck had other ideas though and, following the circuit’s short climb, he attacked in an attempt to take a solo victory in his Luxembourg champion’s jersey in front of his home crowd.
“If Fränk had won the stage, it would have been even better, but I think we’re all happy and relieved to have won the race,” says Gerdemann. “Everyone feels super motivated as we look forward to the next race. The most important part of the season begins now.”
It was not to be for Schleck though and he was caught by the sprinting Feillu just before he reached the line.
The overall victory is Gerdemann’s biggest victory since winning the 2008 Deutschland Tour, and is the Luxembourg team’s second stage race win of the season after Schleck’s Critérium International victory in March.