Eneco Tour de Benelux

Eneco Tour
Stage 7: Genk (ITT), 16.8km

By Cathy Mehl

Team RadioShack’s Andreas Klöden took advantage of good legs in the closing time trial at the Eneco Tour and rode well for a ninth place finish on the stage won by race leader Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia).  Klodi’s strong result at 33-seconds off the pace moved him into 8th overall for the final classification.  Martin took the race lead after stage 2 and held the jersey through the remaining stages, stamping his dominance on the race with the win today.  Martin's time of 20:24 was followed by Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) just six seconds behind and Alex Rasmussen of Team Saxo Bank another three seconds back.  For the classification, Martin held 31-seconds over Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) and a full 1:46 to last year’s champion Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky).  Martin’s win bodes well for the young rider in the upcoming World Championships next month in Australia.

Eneco Tour
Stage 6: Bilzen to Heers, 205.6km/128mi
By Cathy Mehl

The Eneco Tour returned to Belgium on Monday for the next to last stage in this year’s race.   André Greipel (HTC-Columbia) took his second stage win with a strong sprint straight up the middle of the course.  Second and third places on the stage went to Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky.  The overall race lead stayed with Greipel’s teammate Tony Martin, who leads Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) by 11-seconds.  Third place Boasson-Hagen is well behind at 1:22.

Eneco Tour
Stage 5:  Roermond to Sittard, 204 km/127mi
By Cathy Mehl
It was a smart move by neo-pro Jack Bobridge that put him in the winning position at the Eneco Tour’s stage 5 in Sittard on Sunday afternoon.  Coming from a strong track background in pursuit, the 21-year old Australian attacked with 2km to go and basically motored away from the front group to take his first win as a professional.  Coming in four-seconds behind him were Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Thomas De Gendt (Topsport Vlaanderen) with the overall race lead staying with HTC-Columbia’s Tony Martin.

Eneco Tour
Stage 4: St-Lievens-Houtem (Bel) to Roermond (Ned), 214.4 km
By Cathy Mehl

Stage 4 of the Eneco Tour rolled from Belgium back into the Netherlands on Saturday for a group sprint that saw New Zealand’s Greg Henderson of Team Sky take his fourth win of the season.  A perfect lead-out from teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen put ‘Hendy’ in the sweet spot to launch for a tight victory over Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano).  Straight but narrow roads created the setting for the teams of the fast men and Henderson made the most of the good conditions.  Retaining the leader’s jersey was Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) with three stages left to race.  Behind him is Koos Morenhout (Rabobank) and Boasson Hagen’s third place on the stage jumped him into 3-rd on the classification as well.  While Boasson Hagen is the defending champion in Eneco Tour, today Team Sky worked for the popular Henderson with just the result they were hoping for.

Eneco Tour
Stage 3:  Ronse (Belgium), 191.8 km/119mi
By Cathy Mehl

A challenging day of 18 climbs was on course today for 164 riders in the third stage of the Eneco Tour.  Riding some of the cobbled sectors made famous in the Spring Classics, including twice over the 2km Oude Kwaremont, a decisive breakaway under 40km to go put a strong pair of riders in the driver’s seat to battle for the win.  With 300m to go Rabobank’s Koos Moerenhout came around Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) to nab the win on the finish line, with almost a minute and a half passing before Allan Davis (Astana) sprinted from the group for third.  But Martin was a winner too, as the German rider took over the leader’s jersey with four stages remaining to race.  Martin leads by ten seconds over Moerenhout and a full 1:26 ahead of former leader Svein Tuft (Garmin).

Eneco Tour
Stage 2: St. Willebrord (Ned) to Ardooie (Bel), 198.5km/123mi
By Cathy Mehl

Yesterday’s stage winner Robbie McEwen (Katusha) almost made it two-in-a-row, but German André Greipel (HTC-Columbia) was the man of the day, winning the group sprint by almost a bike length over the Aussie.   Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen took third place.  Team RadioShack’s Tomas Vaitkus was in the thick of the action, sprinting for 14-th as the best effort from the Team riders.  There was no change in the overall as Canadian time trial champion Svein Tuft (Garmin) retained the leader’s jersey after his prologue win in the opening stage on Tuesday.

Eneco Tour
Stage 1:  Steenwijk to Rhenen, 178km/109mi
By Cathy Mehl

Thirty-eight year old Robbie McEwen (Katusha) showed that experience has more to do with taking a win than the age-factor in his sprint win in stage 1 of the Eneco Tour on Wednesday.  McEwen selected the right-hand side of the course after hitting a final left hand turn and whipped himself to the front of the group to take a solid win and show good form for the September worlds which will be held in his native Australia.  Second and third went to Lucas Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Allan Davis (Astana).  The race lead stayed with Canadian Svein Tuft (Garmin) after his strong prologue win in Tuesday’s opener.  Team RadioShack’s Gert Steegmans, Tiago Machado and Andreas Klöden arrived with the front group after a crash and crosswinds held up many riders, with others losing more than one minute.

Check out the photos from the Prologue of the Eneco Tour.

Eneco Tour
Prologue: Steenwijk (Ned), 5.2km/3.2mi
By Cathy Mehl

The start of the 8-day Eneco Tour was a 5.2km prologue in Steenwijk on Tuesday with a surprise winner emerging from the pack.  Canadian Time Trial champion Svein Tuft (Garmin) took the victory with his first-ever Pro Tour win.  Second and third went to Rabobank riders Jos Van Emden and Lars Boom.  Boom was an early starter and had led for most of the race before Tuft took over first place with less than ten riders still to ride, setting the benchmark to beat at 6:19. Tuft will wear the white leader's jersey on stage 1.

Team RadioShack’s Sébastien Rosseler took to the start early in the day and held fourth for awhile, finally settling for 11th on the day at eleven-seconds off the pace.  Team riders Gert Steegmans and Andreas Klöden were 16- and 17-seconds off the winning time.