photo credits @ Eneco Tour
Tom Boonen (Etixx – Quick-Step) was quoted after yesterday’s stage, by saying, that a bunch sprint comes down to being in the right position at the right moment.
Today, the Belgian rider was both, as he claimed stage 3 of this year’s Eneco Tour, after his Etixx – Quick Step team nicely delivered him to the front during the final 2.5 kilometers – before the final run-in finish Ardooie.
Indeed, Boonen waited patiently as other sprinters began to open up their lead-outs earlier. However, a final acceleration during the last few meters gave him the impetus he need to edge out Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) for the win.
Earlier Race Highlights
The main break of the day consisted of David Boucher (FDJ), Edward Theuns (Topsport-Vlaanderen) and Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).
However, despite having built up a sizable lead of around four minutes over the peloton, the escapees were eventually caught towards the end of the first lap of the final finishing circuit.
Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin) was the only rider to have another dig off the front, but he too was quickly reeled in with 17.4 kilometers to go.
From there, Lotto-Soudal took over control of the peloton, in hopes of setting up their man Greipel for a second consecutive stage win. But it was Etixx who made a late move to set up Boonen for the sprint, and take his seventh career stage win at the Eneco Tour.
Today’s victory, also saw Boonen move up into second place in the overall classification, with Jesper Asselman (Roompot Oranje Peloton) holding onto the white jersey by one second with Viviani in third spot with the same time.
Top 10 Finishers
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr 3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 4 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Roompot 6 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 7 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Team Katusha 8 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 9 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 10 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
General classification after stage 3
1 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Team Roompot 12:13:20 2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:01 3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 4 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:05 5 Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:00:06 6 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:09 7 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr 8 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha 9 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 10 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
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