Czech Cycling Tour: Last stage for Planckaert, GC for Ulissi
Aug 15 2016 01:21 am CET
Baptiste Planckaert of Wallonie Bruxelles-Group Protect has taken the victory in the fourth and last stage of the Czech Cycling Tour. Diego Ulissi of Lampre-Merida kept the lead in the overall classification.
The stage took place between Olomouc and Dolany and had two climbs, one up the Ecce Homo Lipina and another in Hranicne Petrovice. The rest of the route was hilly and easy to control for the peloton.
At the beginning of the stage six riders escaped and built a gap that reached more than five minutes with the main group. The escapees included Sjoerd Kouwenhoven of Metec, Novo Nordisk's Martijn Verschoor, Wietse Bosmans of BKCP-Corendon and Verva ActiveJet's Pawel Cieslik.
After the ascents, a peloton led by Lampre-Merida and Cannondale-Drapac accelerated to catch the front group. They succeeded with 18 kilometers to go and sentenced the stage to a final bunch sprint.
Planckaert showed to be the strongest in the finale and was followed by Wouter Wippert (CDT), Ivan Garcia (KLC), Jordi Simon (VAT) and Radoslav Rogina (ADR).
After his performance in Saturday's queen stage, Ulissi kept an advantage of 26 seconds over Sebastian Langeveld in the General Classification. This is the third overall victory in the Italian's career after the Tour de Slovenie in 2011 and the Coppi e Bartali in 2013.
Final General Classification:
1- Diego Ulissi (LAM)
2- Sebastian Langeveld (CDT)
3- Davide Rebellin (CCC)
4- Karel Hnik (VAT)
5- Patrick Bevin (CDT)
