Eneco Tour: Boonen wins stage 3 sprint in Ardooie

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Twelve months after his teammate Zdenek Stybar crashed heavily in the Ardooie finale, Tom Boonen put it right for Etixx-QuickStep with a convincing victory on stage 3 of the Eneco Tour. Boonen capitalised on a strong performance by his team in the final kilometre to beat Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky).

“I'm very pleased, it's a very nice victory. The Eneco Tour is one of my home races, and it's nice to have a victory here. I've started the last part of the season very well,” Boonen said at the finish.

The Belgian has been steadily improving over the opening days of the Eneco Tour, finishing third on day two. Lotto-Soudal and Giant-Alpecin did much of the work in the last five kilometres, but Etixx-QuickStep drove a hard pace in the final, forcing a split in the bunch and putting several of the sprinters in trouble.

Démare was able to hold on and struck out for glory as the final Etixx rider peeled off. Boonen kept his cool and stayed on the Frenchman’s wheel before sailing straight around him in the last few metres. Behind them, there was a mass of riders fighting for third but Viviani edged it out.

Jesper Asselman (Team Roompot) retained his leader’s jersey by a single second over Boonen with Viviani remaining in third. "It will be very nice to ride the time trial, starting in last place and riding in the white jersey. I'm going to give it all tomorrow and see where I end up," said the Dutchman.

How it happened

The third stage of the Eneco Tour would be the final opportunity for the sprinters to take a stage win. The 171.9-kilometre stage took the riders from Beveren to Ardooie, where Stybar so spectacularly crashed last year. The sprinters would be hoping for a much cleaner finish to the day.

Asselman began the day as the new race leader after taking all three sprints in the so-called golden kilometre and he held a five-second lead over the two previous stage winners, André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Viviani. The day would be marked by a three-man break that consisted of David Boucher (FDJ), Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

It was a fairly straight-forward day with the gap to the escapees fluctuating as the sprinters’ teams martialled the pace. Roompot didn’t shirk their responsibilities and pitched in on the front of the bunch.

Things seemed to be ticking along nicely for the peloton when Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) and Hugo Houle (Ag2r-La Mondiale) crashed on a corner. The Canadian was able to get up and on his way fairly quickly but the result was much more serious for Izagirre. The former Spanish champion was immediately taken away from the race by ambulance and ushered to hospital for further tests. The team later confirmed on Twitter that he was conscious but had received a blow to the head in the crash.

Back in the race and Theuns took all three sprints in the golden kilometre to earn himself nine bonus seconds. It wouldn’t be enough for the leader’s jersey though as he began the day 15 seconds behind Asselman. The break’s day was soon over after that and the final two riders were reeled in with 20 kilometres remaining. Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin) tried his hand at an attack around a kilometre later but the sprint teams had him pegged.

After missing out on the opening two days, Giant-Alpecin put on a strong show in the final kilometres. The German team hammered the pace and strung the peloton out but they were unable to shake their key rivals. However, when Etixx-QuickStep took up the pace setting the bunch began to break up under the strain.

Démare tried to use the element of surprise and went early in the sprint, but he couldn’t hold off Boonen in the end.

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