Hagen makes it four-in-a-row

Eurosport - Thu, 17 Sep 17:21:00 2009

Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed his fourth consecutive stage win on this year's Tour of Britain as the Norwegian retained the yellow jersey in Devon.

CYCLING 2009 Edvald Boasson Hagen - 0

Boasson Hagen did the business during a sprint finish in Bideford as his Team Columbia-HTC riders put the sprint king in pole position to take the line following the 183.7 kilometre sixth stage.

On the longest and hardest stage of the tour so far, the jostling for position began almost immediately and several riders attempted to break away.

The first real break of the stage came after only four kilometres when Britain's Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Ian Stannard broke from the peleton.

The British trio brought King of the Mountain and sprint competition leader Thomas De Gendt and Belgium's Serge Pauwels along for the ride.

The peleton was once again led by Boasson Hagen's Colombia team who seemed more than happy to chase down the breakaway.

The gap was increased to two minutes and 18 seconds after 60km and the peleton began to look rather stretched.

By the time the stage entered Devon after 95km, the gap was cut to one minute and 39 seconds and remained steady throughout the brutal category one climb at Winsford Hill after 122.1km.

The confusing Devon circuit certainly had the better of Australian rider Simon Clarke who had to ask for a course guide after 146km.

The peleton began to gain ground as the stage reached its conclusion and the leading five riders became four when Britain's Swift was dropped from the town exiting Barnstaple at 165km.

The gap was gradually eaten away and by the time the race reached the finish in Bideford the peleton had caught the leaders.

A sprint finish ensued and Boasson Hagen won once again, coming through by a bike's length in a tight finish.

Cervelo Test Team's Martin Reimer finished second, while Britain's Russell Downing was third home in Bideford.

Rabobank's Kai Reus is now 19 seconds back on Boasson Hagen in the race for the yellow jersey, while Reimer is two seconds even further behind.

After the race, Thomas insists he was right to try his luck in an early breakaway.

"You have to gamble sometimes in bike racing," said Thomas, who has signed up for British

road outfit Team Sky next season.

More than the Games / Eurosport

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  1. Just can't see Cav being as dominent next year. He­ has a big challenge within his own team - Greipel will­ (justifiably, given his results this year) be­ challenging for team leadership duties at major races. ­ Given that neither of them can climb a bridge, their­ respective objectives will have plenty of crossover and­ it will be interesting to see who Stapleton backs as­ the team's premier rider. Thankfully, Boasson­ Hagen is a much more talented rider than the both of­ them and can see him being a real force in the classics­ and short stage races next year with Sky.

    From pedro118118, on Fri 18 Sep 3:42PM

  2. How about we let him be the first Boasson Hagen? I­ don't understand the desire to anoint the­ "next." How would he be next? 7 TdFs? But­ Armstrong said he'd never have won those before­ cancer. So do we wish cancer on Boasson Hagen? Those­ TdF wins brought a lot of PED accusations. Do we want­ him to be the next great champion so we can tear him­ down?

    From Jerry, on Fri 18 Sep 12:53PM

  3. The next Armstong?? I wouldn't bet on it but­ stranger things have happened. To be honest I­ didn't think Sky would be a great career move he­ could also have been a leader at Quickstep after Toms­ fairly @#$% year(even winning Roubaix). Green jersey­ and classics definitly possible. Gutted Cavs train wont­ be as strong next year but Cervelo and Garmin might­ still have an eye on the GC rather than the sprint.

    From Calum, on Fri 18 Sep 12:28PM

  4. Dare i say it, the next Armstrong? What a rider.

    From demi162, on Fri 18 Sep 12:05PM

  5. Columbia clearly have an embarassment of riches. Sadly­ for them, it is impossible to keep the likes of­ Kirchen, Lovqvist and Boasson Hagen happy, as they are­ too good to sit and form part of lead-out trains for­ Cav the Chav and Greipel. Columbia don't seem too­ interested in competing for the GC in tours, just stage­ wins. That's fine, but it means that there will­ always be churn within the team as people get fed­ up/bored - such as all the afformentioned plus­ Hincapie, Barry, Possoni etc.

    From pedro118118, on Fri 18 Sep 11:01AM

  6. Boasson Hagen really is the muts nuts of this years­ TOB.Team Sky are going to be quite a force to be­ reckoned with year. Roll on next season!

    From shambles, on Thu 17 Sep 5:52PM

  7. Althought the ToB is not the biggest race on the­ calender what are Columbia thinking letting a 22year­ old move away after such a great year? The mans a­ machine.

    From Calum, on Thu 17 Sep 5:52PM
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