Bono wins stage as part of successful break

A three-rider breakaway outfoxed the peloton at the Eneco Tour on Saturday, with Italy’s Matteo Bono (Lampre-ISD) beating Sergey Renev (Astana) and Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) on the uphill finish in Genk to win his first race for over four years.

The peloton hesitated on the final rain-soaked roads and the three managed to stay away, finishing six seconds clear. Tomas Vaitkus (Astana) won the sprint for fourth, Robbie McEwen (RadioShack) ninth, also at six seconds. Taylor Phinney (BMC) tenth at seven seconds.

Team Sky was happy to let the trio stay away so they would take away the time bonuses at the finish and ensure that Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) maintained his overall race lead and the white leader’s jersey. He leads Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) by 12 seconds, David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) is third at 15 seconds, with Phinney in fourth at 19 seconds.

Bono seemed to struggle to hold onto the wheels coming out of some of the late corners but quickly followed Renev when he attacked before the finish and then surged passed him to win his first race taking a stage at the Tour de Romandie in 2007.

“It was hard to bring it home but we made it,” Bono said after being warmly congratulated by his teammates.

“I didn’t think we’d stay away because we were tired after fighting for 70km before the break eventually formed. Fortunately thanks to Danilo Hondo and the other guys, I got away in the three-rider move and we stayed clear.”

“At the last corner, at 500m to go, the Katusha guy went wide and I went up the inside and got on the Astana rider’s wheel. Then near the finish, I jumped past him to win! It’s a great feeling but it was a tough stage. We never eased up in the break and went hard all day.”

Tactical face off

The stage was a tactical faceoff between Team Sky, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Garmin-Cervelo and BMC because Boasson Hagen, Gilbert, Millar and Phinney are so close in the overall classification. Nobody wanted to let the other gain a few seconds and the teams fought even for the time bonuses early in the stage, sparking high-speed racing for the first two hours.

Andre Greipel won the first ahead of Phinney and Ben Swift (Team Sky) as Gilbert saved himself for the finale. However the three-rider breakaway that formed after 70km, helped Team Sky, who let them hang off the front all the way to Genk. With Katusha and Lampre-ISD blocking for their riders, Omega Pharma-Lotto failed to complete the chase and even eased up when Greipel suffered a late puncture.

Now the Gilbert will have to put all his cards on the table during Sunday’s final 201.2km stage around the hills of Southern Limburg. The stage starts and finishes in Sittard-Geleen and is like a mini Amstel Gold race because it is packed with short climbs. Perhaps perfect for Gilbert but Boasson Hagen seems confident of holding onto the overall lead.

“We did enough to keep the leader’s jersey today and we hope to do the same tomorrow,” the talented Norwegian said.

“The team worked really hard but our plan went well. We let a group get away but we never let them go too far. Then the guys were amazing how they controlled it, so that I didn’t have to risk anything in the sprint.”

Boasson Hagen won the Eneco Tour in 2009 but lost it in 2008 after missing a key attack. He knows that Gilbert is desperate to win to secure more WorldTour points but is not worried about facing up to him on home roads.

“Maybe Gilbert will try something tomorrow, it’s a hard stage, but we’ve we got a strong team and we’ll do our best to try and keep the jersey. I’m ready to defend it I hope we can keep it,” the double Tour de France stage winner said, showing a growing confidence in his ability.

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