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.

Three riders formed the break of the day and included Adriano Malori (Lampre), Pavel Brutt of Katusha and Albert Timmer (Skill-Shimano).   The trio worked well together and built a solid gap over the Garmin-led peloton.  At 30km to go the group still held 1:43 but their advantage continued to plunge as the peloton raced toward Rhenen.  HTC-Columbia and Liquigas both put riders to the front to aid in the chase.

A crash held up many riders and split the peloton, with crosswinds favoring the riders up front and holding back many of the chasers.  Each time the chasers seemed to gain ground another crash would slow their progress, leaving the break still holding time on the main field.  At 10km they still held 18-seconds as Rabobank drilled the pace in the crosswinds, hoping to cause a huge split in the peloton.  Gaps opened up and some of the favorite riders lost more than one-minute on the stage results.

A large group raced under the red kite signaling 1000 meters to go.  Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) attacked on the small rise with 800m to go and looked strong, but he went too early and when McEwen hit the final left-hander he had a clear shot up the right side of the course to take the victory by almost a bike length. 

Stage 2 on Tuesday is another day for the sprinters as the course travels 198.5km/123mi from St. Willebrord, Netherlands to Ardooie, Belgium.  There is plenty of racing left in the Eneco Tour with six stages still to ride, including the final time trial a week from today. 

Top Ten Results

1              Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha     4:16:34                   

2              Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank                      

3              Allan Davis (Aus) Astana                                

4              Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo                    

5              Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                       

6              Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                           

7              Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ                        

8              José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                          

9              Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram                          

10            Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Team Katusha

Team RadioShack Results

43           Gert Steegmans (Bel)

45           Tiago Machado (Por)

56           Andreas Klöden (Ger)

97           Ben Hermans (Bel) 0:01:12

104         Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)

114         Gregory Rast (Swi)

126         Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)

153         Jason McCartney (USA) 0:02:53

General Classification after Stage 1

1              Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin - Transitions      4:22:52                   

2              Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank               0:00:05  

3              Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank         0:00:06  

4              Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank                            

5              Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team         0:00:07  

6              Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia                                

7              Richie Porte (Aus) Team Saxo Bank          0:00:09  

8              Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram         0:00:11  

9              Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia         0:00:12  

10           Greg Henderson (NZl) Sky Professional Cycling Team

Team RadioShack on General Classification

17           Gert Steegmans (Bel)    0:00:16                 

19           Andreas Klöden (Ger)   0:00:17

29           Tiago Machado (Por)  0:00:21     

94           Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)  0:01:23

99           Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)  0:01:31

107         Ben Hermans (Bel)  0:01:35

109         Gregory Rast (Swi)  0:01:38

142         Jason McCartney (USA)   0:03:17

Photos courtesy of Graham Watson