Edvald Boasson Hagen Wins 2011 Eneco Tour

News & Results

08/14/2011| 0 comments
by Thomas A. Valentinsen
Edvald Boasson Hagen wins stage 6 in the 2011 Eneco Tour. Photo Fotoreporter Sirotti.
Edvald Boasson Hagen wins stage 6 in the 2011 Eneco Tour. Photo Fotoreporter Sirotti.

Edvald Boasson Hagen Wins 2011 Eneco Tour

Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) won the 2011 Eneco Tour in perfect fashion with an emphatic victory on the final stage on Sunday to complete a clean sweep of the overall jerseys.

Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) won the 2011 Eneco Tour in perfect fashion with an emphatic victory on the final stage on Sunday to complete a clean sweep of the overall jerseys.

Boasson Hagen, winner of two stages at the 2011 Tour de France, had continued his superb form throughout the seven-day race.

Coming round the final corner Boasson Hagen was just behind Jürgen Roelandts, but the Omega Pharma-Lotto man crashed in front of him and Boasson Hagen then had significant distance between himself and the rest and was able to ease up before the line and still win by around five bike lengths. Roelandt's crash also effectively ended Team BMC Racing's Talor Phinney's bid for the stage victory and an advancement in the overall rankings.

"I was feeling really strong in the last 20 km so when the rider went down in front of me at the end, it was really frustrating," Phinney told Roadcycling.com and Roadcycling.mobi and added "I was extremely happy to have Karsten Kroon and Micki Schär and everyone else on the team helping me today. It was a difficult day and nobody knows these roads like Karsten, so I felt lucky to have him around me."

Manuel Cardoso of Team RadioShack finished second and Lars Boom of Team Rabobank rounding off the podium places in third.

In the overall rankings, Boasson Hagen topped the standings by 22 seconds to Gilbert, with David Millar of Team Garmin-Cervélo a further six seconds back. It is Boasson Hagen's second Eneco Tour title, having won the event in 2009. Early race leader Phinney of Team BMC Racing finished fourth overall.

The points jersey and the young rider's jersey were also both claimed by Boasson Hagen, with the team prize going Team Sky's way too.



Afterwards Boasson Hagen was quick to pay tribute to his teammates, saying "We had a good plan today and with (Juan Antonio) Flecha getting in the break it allowed us to sit back, conserve energy for later and let other teams do the work.

"Then we controlled the second half of the race and I'm really thankful for all the team's support, they did a perfect job again.

"It's been really good the whole week; we've grown a lot as a team from last year and it's fantastic to see."

Boasson Hagen managed to avoid the late crash coming into the finishing straight and he added "I looked behind me and saw the other guys on the floor which wasn't nice but it's good they are okay and I'm really happy that I was able to pick up a stage win as well.

"I've also got to mention Geraint Thomas who did the longest lead-out ever in the final three kilometers."

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