Team Belkin’s dominance in this year’s 2013 Tour of Hainan was brought to new heights today, as the team swept the finish line in a 1,2,3,4, bunch sprint. Theo Bos took his fifth win in the race ahead of teammates Lars Boom, Moreno Hofland and Tom Leezer, while Hofland extended his overall lead to 59 seconds with just two stages remaining.
During the first 6 days of racing, Belkin not only won all of the stages, in addition they secured the top 2 podium positions as well. Today’s results were even more impressive.
Today’s stage contained the most difficult climb of the race – with a category 1 climb at the 9,6 kilometer mark that put several sprinters in difficulty. One of them was Bos who found himself in a small group with little chance of regaining the front. However, when a lone rider escaped, the main group gave pause which allowed Bos’ group to rejoin the peloton. From there, race reorganized into a classic sprint stage. More riders bridged across to the lone escapee, but Belkin made sure to bring everything back together for another bunch sprint.
The Dutch team remained in complete control during the final kilometer- with four of it’s riders entering the final turn together.
With his third place finish, Hofland extended his lead over 2nd placed Frederic Amorison to 57 seconds.
Tomorrow’s stage is comprised of three categorized climbs. The final one is located 33 kilometers from the finish – so therefore a sprint finish is likely to occur.
Result:
1. Theo Bos 5.13.57
2. Lars Boom
3. Moreno Hofland
4. Tom Leezer
5. Yuri Metlushenko
6. Thomas Palmer
7. Yannick Martinez
8. Andris Smirnovs
9. Rico Rogers
10. Christophe Premont
General classification:
1. Moreno Hofland 25.48.16
2. Frederic Amorison +0.57
3. Tom Leezer +1.04
4. Fabian Schnaidt +1.08
5. Jos Van Emden
6. Kevin Peeters +1.09
7. Jose Goncalves +1.10
8. William Walker +1.11
9. Christopher Williams
10. Mykhaylo Kononenko +1.12
Points classification:
1. Moreno Hofland 111
2. Theo Bos 80
3. Yury Metlushenko 58
4. Lars Boom 56
5. Fabian Schnaidt 46
Mountains classification:
1. Mateusz Taciak 19
2. Vitaliy Buts 14
3. Michael Gogl 11
4. David Belda 10
5. Nikolay Mihaylov 10
Teams classification:
1. Belkin 77.28.13
2. Crelan-Euphony +0.34
3. Ukraine +0.49
4. Drapac
5. La Pomme Marseille +1.13
You must be logged in to post a comment.
