Boom bashes rivals, extends Tour of Britain lead with second stage win
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Friday, September 16, 2011

Boom bashes rivals, extends Tour of Britain lead with second stage win

by Shane Stokes at 3:17 PM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling, Tour of Britain
 
Geraint Thomas crashes and drops down the general classification

Lars BoomOngoing race leader Lars Boom was expected to come under attack towards the end of the Tour of Britain, with Sky Procycling being particularly keen to try to wrest the yellow jersey off the shoulders of the big Dutchman. However the Rabobank rider responded in the best possible fashion, winning today’s stage and, thanks to the time bonus, further extending his lead.

Boom reached the line ahead of Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) and Leopold Konig (Team NettApp), with Steve Cummings being Sky’s best rider in fifth. Their big GC contender Geraint Thomas had a day that he’d rather forget, crashing earlier in the stage and missing the split. He finished 25th, one minute 24 seconds back, and dropped from second down to twelfth. At one minute 49 seconds behind Boom, his chances are now gone.

Instead, Konig is now the closest challenger. Three stages in two days remain, including Sunday morning’s time trial, and he has 28 seconds to make up. Garmin-Cervélo rider Dan Lloyd, who is thought to be searching for a contract for 2012, is one second further back, with Linus Gerdemann (Leopard Trek) and Cummings also close by.

Boom is increasingly confident, and enjoyed taking his second stage win of the race. “It was a difficult stage; there were four guys, one was at 48 seconds, so we kept close to them. My guys worked really hard, they are so strong, I am really thankful. They worked so hard for me today, and for the rest of the last climb there were attacks from other riders and there was a small group going.

“In the last 20 kilometres there were attacks for the points at the King of the Mountains, and some attacks from (Steve) Cummings and (Michael) Rogers. They went pretty hard I think, but I could keep the wheel and it was okay. After that there were a lot of guys for Garmin, and a lot of other guys that were pulling for the GC guys. I made an advantage of that and I’m really happy with the win.”

One factor he said that helped him in judging his effort was that the peloton had two passes over the finish. The first was the third Yodel bonus sprint of the day, 115.5 kilometres after the start in Taunton and 30.5 kilometres from the final gallop into Wells.

“We passed the finish one time so I saw the last corner…that it was the last 200m to go afterwards. Gabriel Rasch and Julian Dean went too hard in the last corner, and I took the corner perfectly I think, and from there nobody else was going to win.”

Thomas had started the day just twelve seconds back and was trying to pick up some bonus seconds in the first intermediate sprint at Langport, 19.6 kilometres into the stage. However he was one of several riders who hit the deck, with Ian Bibby (Motorpoint) being the worst off. He had started the day sixth overall and best-placed of the British-based riders, but sustained a fractured collarbone and had to drop out of the race.

Sky Procycling directeur sportif Sean Yates said afterwards that the team had hoped for a very different outcome to the day. “That wasn’t in the plan. G [Geraint] is a bit cut up after his crash but he is okay,” he stated on the team’s website.

“He was going for the first sprint at kilometre 12. We knew it was going to be a fast one and they were going for it so not a good time to hit the deck. It was lucky I guess that it wasn’t a lot worse given the speed. When you hit the ground going almost 70k an hour you can do a lot of damage. But obviously that hindered him for the rest of the stage.

“Ben [Swift] got in that breakaway and, Rabobank chased hard building up towards the final. G couldn’t quite hang on over the climb and that was that. It’s unfortunate but that’s life.”

He said that the team priority now was to try to help Cummings improve from fifth overall. The team will also aim for a stage win before the race ends on Sunday afternoon.

Break goes, but doesn’t get much space:

As has been the case on the other stages this week, a break went early on and mopped up some of the sprint and climb points on offer. The move didn’t however go until after the first Yodel prime, where Boom boosted his lead by reaching the line first and Thomas, Bibby and several others crashed.

The breakaway quartet were Ben Swift (Sky Procycling), Paul Voss (Endura), Mark McNally (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) and Lars Bak (HTC-Highroad), and these pulled hard together to try to open a big lead. The peloton kept things close, though, making it tough for them to establish any sort of comfortable gap.

They were caught soon after crossing the finish line at that third intermediate sprint, and the climb of Old Bristol Hill then broke things up and enabled the decisive split to happen. Boom profited most, winning the stage and extending his lead at the top.

He’s growing in confidence, and is starting to believe that he can win the race. “My team mates are very strong and are going to work tomorrow, maybe with some of the sprinters’ teams,” he said. “I am confident for the time trial – that is one of my favourite disciplines, so I am confident. But anything can happen, so I will try my best tomorrow. We will be alright, I think.”

[more to follow soon]

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Tour of Britain (2.1) Stage 6 Result: Taunton to Wells (146km)

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
ned NED 1 Lars Boom (Rabobank) 03:19:02
fra FRA 2 Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) s.t.
cze CZE 3 Leopold Konig (Team Netapp) s.t.
cze CZE 4 Jan Barta (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 5 Steven Cummings (Team Sky) s.t.
ger GER 6 Linus Gerdemann (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
nzl NZL 7 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) s.t.
nzl NZL 8 Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
pol POL 9 Bartosz Huzarski (Team Netapp) s.t.
esp ESP 10 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 11 Russel Hampton (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
aus AUS 12 Michael Rogers (Team Sky) s.t.
bel BEL 13 Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 14 Jonathan Tiernan-lock (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
bel BEL 15 Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 16 Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
gbr GBR 17 Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
ned NED 18 Joost Posthuma (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
fra FRA 19 Franck Bouyer (Europcar) s.t.
fra FRA 20 Anthony Charteau (Europcar) s.t.
nor NOR 21 Gabriel Rasch (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
aus AUS 22 Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) 00:01:24
aut AUT 23 Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
irl IRL 24 Matthew Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
gbr GBR 25 Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) s.t.
gbr GBR 26 Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
aus AUS 27 Michael Matthews (Rabobank) s.t.
ita ITA 28 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) s.t.
irl IRL 29 Ronan Mclaughlin (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ger GER 30 Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
ita ITA 31 Giacomo Nizzolo (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
gbr GBR 32 Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) s.t.
swe SWE 33 Alexander Wetterhal (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 34 Peter Williams (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
ger GER 35 Paul Voss (Endura Racing) s.t.
ger GER 36 Dominik Klemme (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
ltu LTU 37 Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
bel BEL 38 Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 39 Andrew Fenn (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ned NED 40 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
usa USA 41 Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
ned NED 42 Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
gbr GBR 43 Andrew Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
gbr GBR 44 Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) s.t.
gbr GBR 45 James Sampson (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
gbr GBR 46 Roger Hammond (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
gbr GBR 47 Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
bel BEL 48 Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
est EST 49 René Mandri (Endura Racing) s.t.
aut AUT 50 Daniel Schorn (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 51 Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh) s.t.
ned NED 52 Bert-jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
aus AUS 53 Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
pol POL 54 Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
ned NED 55 Bram Tankink (Rabobank) s.t.
nor NOR 56 Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
sui SUI 57 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 58 Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) s.t.
fra FRA 59 Gael Le Bellec (Team Raleigh) s.t.
gbr GBR 60 Steven Lampier (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
gbr GBR 61 Jonathan Mcevoy (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
aus AUS 62 Zakkari Dempster (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
bel BEL 63 Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
gbr GBR 64 Tom Last (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
aus AUS 65 William Clarke (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
NAM 66 Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
ned NED 67 Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
fra FRA 68 Mathieu Claude (Europcar) s.t.
gbr GBR 69 Daniel Fleeman (Team Raleigh) s.t.
aus AUS 70 Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
aus AUS 71 Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
can CAN 72 Jamie Sparling (Team Raleigh) s.t.
den DEN 73 Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
bel BEL 74 Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
fra FRA 75 Yohann Gene (Europcar) s.t.
fra FRA 76 Damien Gaudin (Europcar) 00:01:34
gbr GBR 77 Mark Mcnally (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:08:52
gbr GBR 78 Tobyn Horton (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
bel BEL 79 Stijn Joseph (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 80 Thomas Murray (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
irl IRL 81 Mark Cassidy (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ned NED 82 Rick Flens (Rabobank) 00:09:28
ned NED 83 Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank) s.t.
aus AUS 84 Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
gbr GBR 85 Ben Swift (Team Sky) s.t.
bel BEL DNF Dominique Cornu (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator)  
gbr GBR DNF Ian Bibby (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta)  
bel BEL DNF Willem Wauters (Vacansoleil-DCM)  

General classification after stage 6:

Country Result Name Team Time
ned NED 1 Lars Boom (Rabobank) 20:13:18
cze CZE 2 Leopold Konig (Team Netapp) 00:00:28
gbr GBR 3 Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:29
ger GER 4 Linus Gerdemann (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:00:31
gbr GBR 5 Steven Cummings (Team Sky) 00:00:32
bel BEL 6 Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
cze CZE 7 Jan Barta (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 8 Jonathan Tiernan-lock (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
esp ESP 9 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Endura Racing) 00:00:50
ned NED 10 Joost Posthuma (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:00:52
aus AUS 11 Michael Rogers (Team Sky) 00:00:56
gbr GBR 12 Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 00:01:49
ned NED 13 Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:01:51
ned NED 14 Bert-jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:01:54
ned NED 15 Bram Tankink (Rabobank) 00:01:56
gbr GBR 16 Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 00:02:11
gbr GBR 17 Andrew Fenn (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
aus AUS 18 Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:02:14
ger GER 19 Dominik Klemme (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:02:16
NAM 20 Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:02:25
aus AUS 21 Michael Matthews (Rabobank) 00:03:07
den DEN 22 Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) 00:04:21
gbr GBR 23 Russel Hampton (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:04:28
aus AUS 24 Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) 00:05:52
bel BEL 25 Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:05:53
gbr GBR 26 Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) 00:06:22
fra FRA 27 Anthony Charteau (Europcar) 00:06:50
pol POL 28 Bartosz Huzarski (Team Netapp) 00:08:17
nzl NZL 29 Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:08:23
nzl NZL 30 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) 00:08:31
fra FRA 31 Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) s.t.
gbr GBR 32 Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:08:37
nor NOR 33 Gabriel Rasch (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
gbr GBR 34 Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:09:27
nor NOR 35 Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:09:31
gbr GBR 36 Daniel Fleeman (Team Raleigh) 00:09:41
ger GER 37 Paul Voss (Endura Racing) 00:09:59
gbr GBR 38 Jonathan Mcevoy (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:10:01
est EST 39 René Mandri (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 40 Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh) s.t.
aus AUS 41 Zakkari Dempster (HTC-Highroad) 00:10:12
bel BEL 42 Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:10:22
ned NED 43 Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:10:29
fra FRA 44 Gael Le Bellec (Team Raleigh) 00:10:34
pol POL 45 Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:10:37
aut AUT 46 Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) 00:10:57
gbr GBR 47 Roger Hammond (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:10:58
ltu LTU 48 Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
usa USA 49 Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
ita ITA 50 Giacomo Nizzolo (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:12:00
gbr GBR 51 Andrew Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:12:43
fra FRA 52 Franck Bouyer (Europcar) 00:12:44
ger GER 53 Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:12:49
aus AUS 54 Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:13:26
ita ITA 55 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) 00:14:04
bel BEL 56 Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:14:06
gbr GBR 57 Ben Swift (Team Sky) 00:14:13
irl IRL 58 Ronan Mclaughlin (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:14:28
bel BEL 59 Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:14:30
ned NED 60 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:14:38
gbr GBR 61 Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) 00:14:45
gbr GBR 62 Steven Lampier (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:15:06
aus AUS 63 Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) 00:15:09
swe SWE 64 Alexander Wetterhal (Endura Racing) 00:15:22
sui SUI 65 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) 00:15:25
bel BEL 66 Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:15:32
aus AUS 67 William Clarke (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:15:43
fra FRA 68 Yohann Gene (Europcar) 00:15:50
gbr GBR 69 James Sampson (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:15:58
gbr GBR 70 Tom Last (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
gbr GBR 71 Peter Williams (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:16:18
aut AUT 72 Daniel Schorn (Team Netapp) 00:16:19
fra FRA 73 Mathieu Claude (Europcar) s.t.
gbr GBR 74 Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) 00:16:35
irl IRL 75 Matthew Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) 00:16:57
can CAN 76 Jamie Sparling (Team Raleigh) 00:17:01
gbr GBR 77 Mark Mcnally (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:17:34
gbr GBR 78 Tobyn Horton (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:19:20
gbr GBR 79 Thomas Murray (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:19:30
fra FRA 80 Damien Gaudin (Europcar) 00:20:24
bel BEL 81 Stijn Joseph (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:23:47
irl IRL 82 Mark Cassidy (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:25:32
ned NED 83 Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank) 00:26:44
ned NED 84 Rick Flens (Rabobank) 00:27:09
aus AUS 85 Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:32:15

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