Dutchman Niki Terpstra took the overall victory in the Eneco Tour today after going clear with a small group, also containing his team-mate Bob Jungels, on the finishing circuit around Geraardsbergen,
Terpstra managed to keep upright on the wet cobbles, on a day of heavy rain, to stay clear of the chasing group for the victory, as Edvald Boassen Hagen took the stage win.
In addition to the rain and cobbles, the riders also had to contend with 17 climbs on the final stage of the 12th edition of the Eneco Tour and it made for a particularly thrilling finish.
The day started under a blue sunny sky, but things changed dramatically in the afternoon, when the rain made the roads really slippery and split the group, before taking out of the race general classification leader Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing), who crashed inside the last 50 kilometres.
On the second of the three laps the peloton had to cover in the final part of the punishing stage 7 (Bornem – Geraardsbergen, 197.8 kilometres), Luxembourg champion Bob Jungels attacked and forced an important selection.
The newly-formed group, that included also Niki Terpstra, quickly opened on the chasers a gap of 20 seconds, which continued to grow thanks to the tremendous pace setting of an indefatigable Bob Jungels, who pushed the pedal to the metal and played a decisive role in the outcome of the week-long race.
Victorious in Le Samyn and Dwars door het Hageland this season, both wins which came in atrocious weather conditions, Niki Terpstra was the main engine of that small group after Jungels’ job was done and spent a huge amount of energy at the front, taking the Golden Kilometre bonus seconds and taming the cobbles of the Muur-Kapelmuur and Bosberg, two climbs which were made famous by the Tour of Flanders. Terpstra ended up second on the stage behind Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data).
“I’m extremely happy and proud to finish off this great job of the team, who were incredible today,” said Terpstra. “The Muur van Geraardsbergen has a special place in cycling and it means a lot for me to seal the overall victory here.”
“We were aware of the fact that we had several cards to play in the general classification at the start of the day and we were keen to make use of these numbers”, said Terpstra, who rode into contention following the excellent display of the squad in Friday’s team time trial.
The Dutchman explained how he nabbed the team’s 52nd victory of the season: “When it started to rain, we were already on the attack and we gave it our all to keep that advantage. We rode a really smart race today and Bob did a fantastic job at the front, so I must thank him for his huge pace setting.”
“In the closing kilometers of the stage, my focus was to stay with the other riders and make sure I win this beautiful race, which I did in the end. It’s a great day in my career.”
Congrats to Niki Terpstra on a great win!