Boasson Hagen back to winning form

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Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) outsprinted last year's winner Kenny Robert van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) to win the Dutch Food Valley Classic with Stefan van Dijk (Netherlands National Team) rounding out the podium in third.

The 209.9-kilometres race in the Veluwe National Park featured a five-man break for much of the day which was reeled in with approximately 30km remaining. The five-man escape was comprised of Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank), Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team), Martin Pedersen (Footon-Servetto), Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands National Team) and Steven Van Vooren (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator).

Soon after the five-man break was absorbed Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank), Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step) and Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano) attacked in a bid for victory. This break, too, would be absorbed with three kilometres remaining as the teams of the sprinters pushed the pace at the front of the peloton in anticipation of a field sprint.

Sky teammate Chris Sutton provided a perfect lead-out for Boasson Hagen and the 23-year-old Norwegian took a clear-cut win by a couple of bike lengths in a race which was formerly known as Veenendaal-Veenendaal.

The victory by Boasson Hagen bodes well for Sunday's Vattenfall Cyclassics in Germany and next week's Eneco Tour for which he is the defending champion.

"Our objective from the start was a sprint win with Edvald so we didn't do anything other than try and make that happen," said Team Sky race coach Rod Ellingworth. "It was 210km today but it actually wasn't that hard for Edvald as he was well protected throughout so that should stand him in good stead on Sunday and beyond."

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