Henderson pips Van Hummel in Roermond

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Greg Henderson (Sky) took victory in stage four of the Eneco Tour with a perfectly-timed sprint. The New Zealander came around teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen in the closing metres and held off a fast-finishing Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) to take a fine win. Overall, Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) maintains his advantage over Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank).

At 212km, the stage from St-Lievens-Houtem in Belgium back over the border to Roermond in the Netherlands was the longest in the race, but that didn’t stop the attacks from coming thick and fast as soon as the flag was dropped. Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank) went off the front just 7km into the stage and although he was soon brought back, he would go on to be aggressive throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the hyperactive pace in the peloton was causing its own problems as Milram’s Christian Knees crashed into a traffic sign after 20km and was forced to abandon, the third Milram rider to do so thus far. The German champion was brought straight to hospital and received fifteen stitches to his face.

After a brief lull in proceedings, Marycz went on the attack once again at the 35km mark and this time he brought three riders with him – Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), Adriano Malori (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Jérémy Roy (FDJ). The quartet immediately put their heads down and worked together to stretch out a significant lead.

Within 20km of their escape, they had a massive 8:40 lead, benefiting from the fact that Malori was the best-placed rider overall, lying over 21 minutes back in 102nd place, and so HTC-Columbia had no reason to chase. The four continued to put the hammer down in front thereafter, aware that the circumstances of the race might just allow them to defy the sprinters’ teams and stay clear to the finish.

However, once Francesco Chicchi’s Liquigas-Doimo took up the pacesetting in earnest in the final two hours of racing, their advantage began to crumble steadily. 70km from the line, their lead was down to three minutes, and when HTC-Columbia and Rabobank began to contribute to the peloton’s chase, it was clear that it would be simply a matter of time before the leaders were swallowed up the hungry peloton.

By the time the break crossed the finish line for the first time, before entering the finishing circuit, the gap was just one minute. At this point, the black jerseys of Team Sky began to mass at the front and the pace went up another notch in the final 14km circuit. 6km from the line, just as the peloton began to breathe down the necks of the breakaway, Adiano Malori broke their alliance and tried to grind clear by himself, but it was a losing battle.

Cruelly, the Italian managed to stay clear until the red kite, but the Sky-led peloton swept past him in the final kilometre. In the finishing sprint, it first appeared as though Sky were attempting to set up Edvald Boasson Hagen, but the young Norwegian had teammate Greg Henderson on his wheel and the New Zealander had the freedom to contest the win himself.

Boasson Hagen went early in the sprint and began to fade in the final 100 metres. As he did so, Henderson came around him on the right, while Kenny Van Hummel passed on the other side. The trio lunged for the line together but the photo finish showed that Henderson had timed his effort to perfection to take out a splendid win ahead of a frustrated Van Hummel.

Henderson was obviously pleased with his day’s work and revealed that it was always Sky’s plan to work for him today. “They gave me a good chance today to show how fast I can be and I’m really happy I could finish it off for them,” said Henderson. “The sports director Steven de Jongh said we would be working for me today and the whole team committed to that. That was the plan and it’s great when it comes off 100% like that.”

The four bonus seconds for third place on the stage also saw Boasson Hagen move up to third overall. “I just kept everyone moving forward at the finish and we got into exactly the position we wanted, so much so that Edvald, who’s obviously very fast himself, was able to deliver me and get on the podium himself,” Henderson explained.

Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) maintains his 10 second lead over Rabobank’s Koos Moerenhout ahead of tomorrow’s 204km stage to Sittard. 

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