Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport) took an impressive eighth and final sprint today as the Mitchelton-Scott team emerged victorious at the Hammer Limburg Sprint.
Hansen had broken clear with fellow Dane Matti Breschel (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) to contest Lap 7, with Hansen taking it, before Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) mopped up the points for third. Hansen and Breschel worked well together to gain an advantage of 16” on the chasing bunch. With Breschel sitting up shortly after the beginning of the final lap, the gauntlet was thrown down to Norman Hansen to stay out for the remaining 12.4km, and the 2012 Olympic gold medallist proved himself up to the task.
The 26-year-old rode himself into the ground to stay clear to the line, covering the 12.4km in a time of 14’47” with an average speed of 48.5kph. The 200 points taken by Hansen at the finish vaulted Aqua Blue Sport into seventh on the day.
Caleb Ewan sprinted to second to wrap up his Mitchelton-SCOTT team’s overall win with 1,120.5 points. Quick-Step Floors (715.1pts) finished second on the day to take the lead at Hammer Limburg following their third place in Friday’s Hammer Climb. As a result, the Belgian team will start first in the Hammer Chase Finalists’ Group on Sunday.
Team LottoNL-Jumbo were third on the day, winning 581.4pts thanks in large part to the sprinting of Danny Van Poppel.
“Today wasn’t just me going solo,” Hansen said afterwards. “It was a real team effort, and we took it in our own hands to go out and show ourselves. Yesterday we all underestimated how hard it (the Hammer Climb) was going to be, and today we all wanted to make up for that – because we want to perform, all of us.
“Both Andy (Fenn) and Gatey (Aaron Gate) made some good efforts in the early stages of the race today, and I tried a few times to see if I could get in the break and get some easy points but that wasn’t possible. I sat back and waited for an opportunity to open up towards the end of the race, and luckily that happened.”
