McEwen sprints to victory in Rhenen

Robbie McEwen (Katusha) bounced back from pain and disappointment at the Tour de France to win stage one of the Eneco Tour with a perfectly-timed sprint on a testing rising finish in Rhenen in the Netherlands.

The final kilometre had seemed too difficult for the sprinters but McEwen dug deep and used all his sprinting experience to take an impressive win that rightly earned him praise from his rivals in the peloton.

Argentina's Lucas Sebastien Haedo (Saxo Bank) was on McEwen's wheel and took second with Allan Davis (Astana) giving Australia first and third. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) tried to out-power the sprinters on the rise to the finish but faded before the line and was passed. He eventually finished sixteenth.

Prologue time trial winner Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions) finished 22nd in the same time as McEwen and so kept his overall race lead. Jos Van Emden (Rabobank) also finished in the same time as McEwen and is still five seconds down on Tuft. Van Emden's teammate Lars Boom is third at six seconds.

“The finale of the stage was a little bit difficult because the roads were narrow and the stage ended on a small climb lasting 600 metres,” McEwen said.

“I have to thank my teammates that lead me into the finale at the front. I started my effort at 250 metres to go, it was a bit long but I used Boasson Hagen as a reference point after he tried to anticipate the sprint.”

A nervous day in the Netherlands

The sprint was the thrilling end to a nervous day of racing in the lanes of the central Netherlands.

Pavel Brutt (Katusha) and Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) formed the break of the day, going away after a few kilometres. They were later joined by former Under 23 world time trial champion Adriano Malori (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and worked well together but the bunch was hungry for a sprint finish and never let the trio gain more than three minutes. Malori cleverly picked up the time bonuses, for a total of nine seconds and so moved up to 16th overall at 15 seconds after finishing in the same time as McEwen.

The 177km stage ended with a 22km final lap around Rhenen and Veenendaal and the constant change in direction, coupled with strong winds and a mix of exposed and then sheltered roads, caused havoc in the peloton.

Garmin-Transitions kept the race under control for most of the day but other teams kept trying to split the peloton in the crosswinds in the final 40km of racing.

Richie Porte and Saxo Bank teammate Jens Voigt were forced to chase after one crash and Milram, Rabobank and Lampre-Farnese Vini refused to do them any favours by upping the pace whenever the wind blew from the side. Gianni Meersman (Francaise des Jeux) also crashed with Voigt, while Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was also stuck in the cars, chasing the peloton. With road traffic furniture and speed bumps also creating problems, the riders became more and more nervous as the kilometres counted down.

The gap on the breakaway trio eventually came down and they were caught with eight kilometres to go. The sprinters and their teams were in charge but the peloton had seen the climb to the finish on the 22km final circuit and were unsure who would have the legs to win it.

HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin rode to set up Andre Greipel and Mark Renshaw but after the last corner to the foot of the climb, Boasson Hagen surprised everyone with a sudden surge of speed.

It was still 800 metres from the finish but the young Norwegian opened a gap and looked like he could stay clear to win the stage. However the climb was just too much even for his huge talent and he faded just as the gradient eased in sight of the line. The sprinters were merciless and switched to the other side of the road as they fought for the best line and best wheel.

McEwen got it right and hit the front as the gradient eased. He may be 38 but he still had the speed in his legs to hold off his rivals and take his second victory of the 2010 season.

McEwen suffered through the Tour de France after being knocked off his bike by a television cameraman mid-way through the race but now seems to back to his best.

He has still to reveal who he will ride for in 2011 and is fighting for a place in the Australian world championship team and made his ambitions and intentions clear in his first post-victory Twitter message.

"Feels good to b back in the winners circle! ProTour win, stg 1 of Eneco Tour, uphill finish. Form on the up. Enough 4 worlds selection now?"

It looks like it is.