Eneco Tour: Boasson Hagen wins last stage, overall victory for Terpstra
Sep 25 2016 10:47 pm CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSEDVALD BOASSON HAGEN
NIKI TERPSTRA
TEAM DIMENSION DATA
ETIXX - QUICK STEP
ENECO TOUR
Edvald Boasson Hagen has won the last stage of the Eneco Tour. Niki Terpstra, who finished second, is the overall winner of the Dutch-Belgian race.
The stage to Geraardsbergen, which included the infamous wall of Geraardsbergen, took place in difficult circumstances as the heavy rain made the cobbled sections even more slippery than usual.
Several crashed occured and race leader Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing Team wasn't spared as the Australian went down and immediately lost more than a minute in respect to those in front. BMC later announced that Dennis was forced to abandon the race.
A group of four with Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Terpstra (Etixx-Quick Step), Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling) and Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar) went into the last ten kilometers with a healthy lead of about 45 seconds over a group with Peter Sagan. Terpstra and Sagan began the last stage level on seconds but the Dutchman collected some more seconds in the 'Golden Kilometer' to extend his margin.
In the final kilometers, the Sagan group failed to close the gap with the leaders. Sutterlin was dropped from the front group, leaving just Terpstra, Naesen and Boasson Hagen fighting for the stage victory. Boasson Hagen launched the final sprint and the Norwegian easily took the victory ahead of Terpstra, whose principal target was the overall win.
The Sagan group, with Tom Dumoulin taking fourth place ahead of Greg Van Avermaet, finished at 43 seconds, more than enough for Terpstra to secure the overall victory.
#EnecoTour @NikiTerpstra of @Etixx_QuickStep wins the 2016 @EnecoTour ???? pic.twitter.com/qIcghcfRQ0
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) September 25, 2016
