Terpstra wins Eneco Tour as Dennis crashes out

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Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) emerged as the winner of the Eneco Tour after heavy rain and slippy roads turned the final stage into a Classic and leader Rohan Dennis (BMC) crashed and abandoned the race.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) won the stage on the lower slopes of the Geraardsbergen climb, beating Terpstra and Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling) with a huge final effort.

Terpstra was fifth overall before the stage and used his form and ability in the rain and on the roads of Flanders to fight for overall victory. Naesen finished 31 behind the Dutchman in the overall classification, with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) finishing third overall at 1:00 after finishing sixth on the stage in a chase group.

Rain in the final 60km of the race caused havoc with Dennis crashing hard after an apparent touch of wheels. He tried to chase but eventually abandoned the race. Taylor Phinney tried to save BMC’s chances but he finished two minutes behind. Greg Van Avermaet became BMC’s best finisher overall, taking fourth place at 1:02.

A planned attack

Terpstra cracked a huge smile when he realised he’d gained enough time to secure overall success. He secured the Etixx-QuickStep an 18th WorldTour win for the season.

“We planned to attack and all give it everything,” he said.

“With five riders within a minute in the standings, we were in an ideal situation. During the second passage on the Geraardsbergen, both BMC and Tinkoff seemed in difficulty in the rain, so we went on the attack. I didn’t take any risk by also trying to win the stage and so did everything I could to gain time and secure overall victory.”

Boasson Hagen needed time to recover from his huge finale but was happy to have won the final stage.

“It’s really nice to win today. I’s been a while since I won and to win on the Geraardsbergen is really nice too,” he said.

“I managed to be in a good position at the important moments of the race today and got away in the right group. I waited and followed the attacks in the finale and not waste too much energy. I knew the other guys were riding for the GC and so I could wait and give it everything on the final climb. We were lucky that they didn’t catch us from behind too.

“I’ve been feeling quite strong during the Eneco Tour but we didn’t get what we were hoping to get. I was hoping to win the GC but I’m far from that, so I’m happy to win the final stage.”

“It was a very hard race for the last day and the weather was bad with rain but I’m very happy I didn’t crash,” Sagan said.

“I came up to third place but against everyone, it is very hard to race. I wanted to come back in the front group but no one wanted to work with me. It’s like that, what can I do? It’s cycling, it’s unfair and I just do my best. Everyone was racing to not win, just to be beaten, and I don’t understanding. It’s a part of cycling.”

How it happened

The riders signed on for the stage in the sun but the weather worsened as the peloton headed south to the Flemish hills.

The early break of the day included nine riders and formed after a fast opening 65km of racing that tested BMC’s control of the race.

Winner of the last two editions of the Eneco Tour Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) was in the attack, along with Roy Curvers (Giant-Alpecin), Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Team Sky), Carlos Verona (Orica-Bike Exchange), Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana), Marc Sarreau (FDJ), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Brian Van Goethem (Roompot) and Simone Antonini (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

They opened a lead of 2:00 and Anacona was only 1:07 off the lead and so BMC lead the chase. However Wellens took off on the passage of the Geraardsbergen, splitting the break and the peloton also broke up as the decisive action began and Tinkoff looked to position Sagan.

Dennis’ chances ended on flat section of road when he seemed to touch wheels. He went down hard and Las Boom (Astana) crashed too. Dennis got up but was in pain. With the peloton split and lined out, the BMC car struggled to get to their leader and the rest of the race disappeared up the road. The Australian chased for a while but eventually abandoned in pain.

The crashes, attacks and nasty weather conditions sparked several other attacks and split. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was in the front group with 35km to go and looked strong but he crashed alongside Boy Van Poppel (Team Sky).

A group of nine strong riders eventually emerged, with Sagan caught in the chase group and marked by Zdenek Stybar, who was defending Terpstra’s effort in the attack. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) was there but lacked the strength to help Sagan close the gap.

On the next passage of the Geraardsbergen, with the Bosberg and other lesser climbs all hurting the rider’s legs, Terpstra split the attack up front and wet away with Boasson Hagen, Naesen and Germany’s Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar). They worked together to stay, with Terpstra sweeping up nine bonus seconds in the three Golden Kilometre sprints.

Sütterlin also had a chance of a place on the final podium but he cracked when Naesen and Terpstra put down several surges to ensure they stayed away. Boasson Hagen cleverly missed a few turns and saved his strength for one last final effort on the Geraardsbergen. He dug deep and hit the front, leading Naesen and Terpstra up to the finish. He celebrated a much-needed stage victory, while Terpstra and Naesen celebrated their places on the final podium.

Everyone else was just happy to have finished on of the most dramatic and toughest stages in the 12-year history of the Eneco Tour. The race shook out the WorldTour standings and showed who is on form for the rapidly approaching world road race championships in Qatar.

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