Overpowered and out manoeuvred by Garmin-Cervélo duo Thor Hushovd and Ryder Hesjedal at the end of Wednesday’s stage to Gap, Edvald Boasson Hagen made no mistakes on yesterday’s stage to Pinerolo in Italy. The Norwegian rider soloed to victory, and said that it was the thoughts of making amends which drove him onwards in the finale.
“I was so close yesterday and I really wanted to get revenge and try to win today,” the smiling Sky Procycling competitor said in his post-race interview. “I was focussing on this stage, to get into the break like I said I would.
“I was really close the day before [Tuesday], I was feeling strong and really wanted to get revenge. Today I got the victory, so I am really happy.”
Boasson Hagen has long been regarded as one of the very best young talents in the sport and has underlined that in this year’s Tour by taking two victories. He was strongest in the stage six sprint at Lisieux, beating Hushovd to the line. He grabbed that win one day after timing his sprint wrong into Cap Fréhel, going far too early.
His second win also came 24 hours after a miscalculation. Away in the finale with Hushovd and Hesjedal, the former got the jump on him in the sprint and gained too much of an advantage for his younger compatriot to come past.
“I should have opened it a bit earlier yesterday to do a better sprint,” he accepted yesterday. “But it was hard to do anything different, actually. When there is two against one, two Garmins, it is hard to do anything different. I was feeling strong yesterday and wanted to win, but it made me even stronger today. I wanted to make a point. I am really happy today…it has been a great Tour, it is really nice.”
Boasson Hagen was part of a large group of riders which went clear in the first ten kilometres of racing. These gained a decisive lead over the main bunch, then the Norwegian rider made his move close to the top of the final climb. He overhauled the leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), hurtling by and then dropping like a stone down the descent to the line.
Other riders got the downhill wrong, most notably race leader Thomas Voeckler, who went off the road twice and lost time. Boasson Hagen did it perfectly, and revealed afterwards that it was partly due to perfect preparation on the part of Team Sky.
“We did it [the descent] three times in training and also I watched it on video a few times, so I knew it quite well,” he said. “I knew the corners….It was quite technical. I didn’t find it that dangerous when I was alone, but for sure it was more technical and dangerous if you were in a big group. I think if I didn’t know it and I was in a group, maybe I would say something different.”
This year’s Tour is his second and marks a turnaround for his career. He had problems with his Achilles tendon in 2010 and again earlier this season, and didn’t live up to the potential he had shown when with the HTC Colombia team. However it’s clear that he is back on track now, and will target races such as this year’s world road race championships in Copenhagen.
“I had some bad luck last year, some injury, and also at the start of this year,” he explained. “I didn’t get time to prepare and do really good training for the Tour last year, but that said I have also managed to win a few races last year and this season. So it hasn’t been that bad, I reckon.”
Those wins included stages of Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné, so the period wasn’t bad at all. However his performances in this Tour have been a level above. Still just 24 years of age, the quiet Norwegian has clearly got a big future in store.
Related: click here for a video interview with Sky Procycling coach Rod Ellingworth, who gives his opinion on Boasson Hagen, Geraint Thomas and others.