Boom wins 2012 Eneco Tour

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Lars Boom (Rabobank) clinched the general classification at the 2012 Eneco Tour in Geraardsburgen on Sunday. The race's final stage was won by Alessandro Ballan (BMC), which was the Italian's third win of the season. Ballan finished just ahead of Boom in the gruelling seventh stage, which took in three ascents of the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen, and it was enough for Boom to move up from second overall into first place to take the victory.

In a tight finish that was preceeded by a nine-man breakaway, Ballan prevailed over Boom by the smallest of margins, with Movistar’s Francisco Ventoso six seconds further back in third place. Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM) completed the top five stage finishers.

Ballan had already tasted success this season at the Giro di Toscano and the Giro del Trentino, and the 32-year-old former road world champion once again proved his prowess as a climber by conquering the Eneco Tour’s toughest stage. After a barren couple of years he has been rejuvenated and is enjoying an Indian summer to his career.

Boom has been a prolific winner over the last few seasons on both the road circuit and the cyclo-cross circuit. Earlier this year he won his sixth consecutive Dutch national cyclo-cross championship and last season he won two overall stages at the Tour of Britain and the overall classification, as well as stages at the Tour of Qatar and the Critérium du Dauphiné. He will be delighted at winning the Eneco Tour, part of which has taken place in his homeland.

Boom had trailed Svain Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) by four seconds overnight, with Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) lurking dangerously just sixteen seconds further back in third. It was a day to forget for Tuft, however, who fell to third place behind Boom and Chavanel before incurring a time penalty that resulted in him missing out on a podium place. Third spot was taken by Chavanel’s teammate Niki Terpstra. Spain's Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) finished in fifth place overall in what was his comeback race from his six-month doping-related suspension.

Results