Continuing a superb recent run of form which has seen him take two Tour de France stage wins and a stage plus the overall classification in the Eneco tour, Edvald Boasson Hagen today blazed to victory in the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg.
The Sky Procycling rider scored a big triumph on the same day as a national day of mourning in his native Norway, being held to mark the one month anniversary of the killing of 77 people by deranged gunman Anders Behring Breivik.
Boasson Hagen’s victory saw him beat Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step), Borut Božic (Vacansoleil) plus 34 others to the line. The peloton split into two seconds in the closing stages, meaning that there were less than 40 riders in contention for the WorldTour victory.
Sky Procycling played things out well and it paid off with a big win. “It was perfect again…this group have been riding together in many races this season, they know each other so well know and they do everything for each other,” said directeur sportif Servais Knaven.
“You need good riders which we've got and if they all work together as well as that then you get performances like this. They are riding strong, they keep on winning and it's great to see. It was another brilliant day.”
He listed Peter Kennaugh as having made a big contribution, the young rider working hard to keep the front group ahead of the second. Knaven also pointed out the work by Juan Antonio Flecha, Christian Knees and Thomas.
Runner up Ciolek thanked his own team-mates, but said he simply came up against a rider who was on a very good day. “In the sprint I took off at about 350 metres, trying to anticipate on Boasson Hagen. But when he launched his sprint he busted out particularly strong,” he said. “I gave it my all, but today I don’t think anyone could have beaten him.
“When you lose to a rider who’s so fast and in such good shape you can’t have any regrets, even though this could have been an important victory for me.” Rather than mull over the result, he said that he would turn his focus towards next Sunday’s WorldTour race in Plouay.
The Saxo Bank SunGard team was pinning its hopes on Luke Roberts and Baden Cooke, but both were hampered by bad luck in the closing stages.
“Luke was in a perfect position a few hundred meters from the finish line with Baden on his wheel but as he leaped forward to do the sprint his chain was stuck and he wasn't able to pedal at all,” said directeur sportif Dan Frost. “It's such a shame. Baden has been showing good form and to lose the opportunity to win because of mechanical problems just makes it even worse.”
Five man break stirs things up:
Early on, Lars Bak (HTC-Highroad), Jan Barta (Team NetApp), Pavel Brutt (Katusha), Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil) went clear in front of huge crowds and built a solid lead. They extended their advantage to over five minutes but with 100 kilometres to race, this was down to three minutes.
Sesma cracked 80 kilometres from the end of the 217 kilometre event, leaving four out front with a lead of just over two minutes. They battled on over the first ascent of the Waseberg climb but the lumpy parcours took its toll on them, as did the peloton’s chase. They were just a minute clear with 50 kilometres to go. On the next ascent of the climb, Barta was dropped. Brutt pushed on but the other two riders got back to him, only for de Gendt to crack soon afterwards.
The third climb of the Waseberg came 27 clicks from the end and there the peloton was almost up to the break. Brutt stubbornly pushed ahead of Bak and was joined by eight others, namely Vacansoleil’s Marco Marcato and Bjorn Leukemans, Geraint Thomas and Christian Knees (Sky Procycling), Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma Lotto), Marteen Tjallingi (Rabobank), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Matteo Trentin (Quick Step).
The peloton edged closer, though, and while Roelandts pushed onwards on the penultimate ascent of the Waseberg, they were all caught. Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) attacked but was caught 13 kilometres from the line; Matthieu Sprick (Skil Shimano) had the same fate when he went inside the final ten kilometres.
The tough route provoked a split in the main bunch and those in the front went on to battle for the win. The fastmen stranded behind included German sprinter Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma Lotto), world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo), world under 23 champ Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Robbie McEwen (RadioShack) .
Boasson Hagen is a solid climber, however, and was one of those who had made it into the front section. He benefited from good team work inside the final few kilometres and then received a strong leadout by Geraint Thomas, kicking hard inside the final 250 kilometres and snagging yet another big win.