Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) rode a strong enough time trial to take over the race lead from Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) in the Eneco Tour yesterday. Though neither rider came close to victory in the bad weather conditions, they did enough to stay first and second in the general classification with two stages remaining.
“That was a really good effort from Edvald in the time trial to take the race lead. He did a great job riding in bad conditions when many of the other guys went in the dry,” said Team Sky sport director Servais Knaven.
“It was tricky. There were a lot of corners but if you want to go for the win and the overall you have to take some risks and Edvald went really well. He was faster than [David] Millar and Gilbert in the same circumstances so it was a really good TT.”
With two stages remaining, Boasson Hagen has a twelve second advantage over Gilbert, with Millar still lurking in the shadows a further eighteen seconds back. Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) who led the race for the first few days, remains close to the top in fourth place, 27 secods behind Boasson Hagen.
“Now there are two days to defend the jersey. It is not going to be easy but the team is really strong and motivated,” said Knaven. “Everyone knew from the start that we were going for the GC and the goal was to have the jersey after the time trial. We have it now so we need to defend it.”
Team Sky will have to regroup to focus on responding to the onslaught that is likely to come from Gilbert. The Belgian yet again displayed the dominant form he’s had all season on stage three, when he put in a formidable attack on the final climb that no one could respond to.
However, the final two days suit both the characteristics of Boasson Hagen and Gilbert. The Norwegian is likely to draw inspiration from already having won this race in 2009, and is clearly in strong form.