2012 Giro Stages 4 & 5

May 10, Stage 5: Modena - Fano 199km

Cavendish sprints to Giro d'Italia stage 5 win in Fano

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-5/results)

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) showed that he has put his stage 3 crash behind him when he held off a late challenge from Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) to win stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia into the Adriatic resort of Fano on Thursday.

Set up perfectly by his Sky teammates and led out equally well by Geraint Thomas in the final 500 metres, Cavendish began his sprint from 150 metres out. Orica-GreenEdge's Goss came around Colnago-CSF Inox's Sacha Modolo to push the Briton hard, but Cavendish had a bike length between him and the Australian at the line. Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan) came through to take third place, with Robert Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda) fourth.

The pink jersey will stay on the shoulders of Garmin-Barracuda's Ramunas Navardauskas, who finished safely in the bunch.

Cavendish adds to Giro victory tally

It was Cavendish's ninth stage win at the Giro. It had added personal significance for him as his girlfriend Peta Todd and baby daughter Delilah were waiting at the finish to greet him. The bonus seconds Cavendish gained for his victory pushed him up to fifth overall, and he is now 14 seconds down on race leader Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda), who finished safely in the bunch. Goss also moved up in the standings and now lies fourth overall, 13 seconds down on the Lithuanian.

"I didn't feel good all day with that many anti-inflammatories," said Cavendish. "I was suffering with the heat. It wore me out. I was comfortable on the climb, but I was dead at the finish. I could see Gossy's shadow the whole way, getting closer and closer. I was happy to hang on for the win.

"I'm very happy," he said. "My daughter and my girlfriend came to see me here, so I could not go wrong. It is a wonderful day! This is the first time they have seen me compete, and it is also the first time that Delilah has been with me on the podium. Did you notice that she is dressed in pink? We've now won two stages in this Giro. I would have liked to take another, but I couldn't because of the fall. However, I am feeling better every day, so hopefully others will come."

Goss looked at the positives after finishing second to the rider he used to lead out at HTC. "Today, Cavendish has shown he's the strongest. We made our move at the same moment, and I couldn't get ahead of him. Once he had made his jump, it was always going to be difficult to get on terms with him, but it is an honour to have a team behind me that believes in me."

Asked if he thought he can beat Cavendish, Goss said, "If I didn't think he was beatable, there wouldn't be any sense in me trying to take him on whenever I can."

Action starts from the gun

The 200km stage ran almost dead straight from Modena south-east to Fano. As soon as the flag was waved, Farnese Vini's Pier Paolo de Negri shot away to instigate the break of the day. Alessandro de Marchi (Androni Giocattoli) and Lotto-Belisol duo Olivier Kaisen and Brian Bulgac jumped across to join him in an escape that would last for 170km.
As the leading quartet worked to build up a lead that never went very much beyond six minutes, Garmin-Barracuda in particular ensured that a steady pace was maintained behind them. The American squad upped its pace slightly entering the second half of the stage, gradually eroding the advantage of the four breakaways.

What had been an incident-free stage until the riders were inside the final 50km took on a different complexion as the pace edged up once more as the peloton approached the only categorised climb of the day, with 35km remaining. A moment's inattention by Saxo Bank's Lucas Haedo resulted in him crashing. Former race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC) was also caught up, but was quickly back on his bike. While that was more bad luck for the young American, there was better to follow when he managed to avoid being swiped by the wing mirror of a passing RadioShack-Nissan team car.

The speed in the bunch was extremely fast from the moment the riders crossed the final climb of the day with 35km remaining. At that point, the four leaders still held an advantage of a minute, but it was falling fast. After De Negri had led over the top of the climb, Androni's De Marchi decided to make a move on his own. It was never likely to succeed, and in fact the Italian did well to hold off the bunch until the 20km mark as Liquigas-Cannondale and Astana set a fierce pace on the front of the bunch.

The final run-in

The bunch's speed was enough to drop several likely contenders for the stage win. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) was one of the first to fall back and never regained contact despite a determined pursuit by teammate Jack Bauer. BMC's Thor Hushovd also fell back, as did Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank) and the rider who caused the chaos on stage 3 in Horsens, Roberto Ferrari (Androni).

For almost all of the closing 20km, the bunch was completely lined out as Sky, FDJ-BigMat, Orica-GreenEdge and Liquigas-Cannondale all took a turn at pace-making. On such a straight road, there was little chance of anyone getting and then staying clear, although Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) endeavoured to get away solo with 3.5km remaining. His attack was very short-lived as Sky gathered six riders on the front ahead of Cavendish.

Rigoberto Urán showed his racing legs are returning as he produced a long turn coming towards the final 2km, where Peter Kennaugh, Bernhard Eisel and then Ian Stannard took over. Orica-GreenEdge infiltrated the Sky line coming into the final kilometre, but Thomas managed to power his way to the front and launch Cavendish. For a moment, it looked like the world champion had gone too early as Goss began to close, but the Manxman delivered a final kick to assure his success.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:43:15
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
4	Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox
6	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
7	Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
8	Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank

 

May 9, Stage 4: Verona (TTT) 32.2km

Garmin-Barracuda storms to victory in Verona team time trial

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-4/results)

Four years ago on the streets of Palermo, the Garmin team announced itself on the world stage with a defining win in the Giro d'Italia team time trial. In the intervening years, the squad has changed - riders leaving, riders joining - but on Wednesday the American team stamped its authority on the team time trial once again, storming to victory with a time of 37:04.

It was enough to put Garmin-Barracuda's Ramunas Navardauskas into pink, with previous race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC) succumbing to his injuries and losing the maglia rosa after an eventful four days of racing.

Katusha finished second, five seconds down, leaving Joaquim Rodriguez with the biggest smile among the overall contenders. The Spaniard put over 20 seconds into his main rivals and sits in the pole position as the race heads towards the first skirmishes in the mountains.

"We thought we could win today, but I wasn't sure if I could hang with these guys," Navardauskas said at the finish.
"They were really strong today. Everybody did a good job. I was so glad to stay with these guys as I tired in the last 10 kilometres. This jersey is a really big thing for me."

"I like this team. They have taken care of me last year and this year and brought me to good races. I did the Tour de France last year, I didn't expect [Jonathan] Vaughters to bring me. This year I'm at the Giro, and it's been a really good start for me up to now, although we'll see how it is tomorrow."

Although Garmin-Barracuda was the favourite heading into the event, it was widely expected that Alex Rasmussen would be the assassin to end Phinney's reign. However when the Dane was surprisingly dropped, Navardauskas quickly moved to centre stage.

Garmin-Barracuda had two aims: the stage win and propelling Ryder Hesejdal into a secure GC spot. Two aims but one method: ride fast. It meant Navardauskas had to hang on for dear life as the Garmin train neared the finished. After starting 18 seconds down in the battle for pink, finishing behind his teammates could have ended his flirtation with pink.

He briefly slipped off the back, the pink jersey momentary heading in another direction. However, the Lithuanian recovered as his teammates eased on one of the final corners, latching onto the slipstream and holding on for the line. It meant that the maglia rosa passed to another promising talent, with Phinney unable to pull of the impossible and keep the jersey for another day.

"I had a bad day personally," Phinney said.

"I don't know if it was the crash the other day or what, but I had nothing today. The team had to wait for me a couple of times, I have to thank them. Fortunately I didn't fall today as well, but from my third pull on the front, I could see that something wasn't right. I'm very disappointed, I don't have a lot to say. I didn't have a lot of power. I gave the maximum, I gave everything I have. I have to thank they team. They could have left me but instead they slowed and waited for me."

When he returns to the team hotel, Phinney can look back at what has been a whirlwind few days. In pink on stage 1, several crashes and a near abandonment, he has lit up a race desperate for international recognition. Heading into the Giro, the primary goal was the finish, and the second year pro must now muster the necessary strength for another two weeks.

His ride today summed up his four-day Giro perfectly. Starting in pink, Phinney rose to the occasion before veering off the road briefly. He finished strongly, taking turns at the front of the BMC train all the way until the line. He'll be hoping he can finish the Giro d'Italia in such fashion.

Advantage Rodriguez

In the battle for the overall, Rodriguez is in the strongest position, a statement one would not have expected to have made at the start of the race and with over 40 kilometres of time trialing covered.

"The team did a spectacular team time trial. We couldn't have gone a second faster. We'll see what Liquigas and Astana do, but we've done our bit," the Katusha leader said.

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Roman Kreuziger (Astana) and Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) all sit in close proximity, while the Lampre duo of Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego are on the back foot. John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale) at 2:43 and Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago - CSF Inox) are the furthest back.

Results

1	Garmin-Barracuda	0:37:04
2	Katusha Team	0:00:05
3	Astana Pro Team	0:00:22
4	Team Saxo Bank
5	Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:00:24
6	Orica-GreenEdge	0:00:25
7	Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:26
8	RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:28
9	Sky Procycling	0:00:30
10	BMC Racing Team	0:00:31

2012 Giro d' Italia Stage 3 & Weylandt, #108

May 7, Stage 3: Horsens 190km

Goss wins crash-marred sprint in Horsens

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-3/results)

Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) won a crash-marred stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia ahead of Juan Jose Heado (Saxo Bank) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda). The Australian was ahead of a major spill that took down stage 2 winner Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) and maglia rosa Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing).

The Orica-GreenEdge team were the most dominant and well-disciplined squad in the final kilometres of the race, only surging to the front inside the final two kilometres, to deliver Goss to his first win of the season and Orica's first Grand Tour stage win.

"I guess it was a bit of really fast sprint," a delighted Goss said at the finish. "We went uphill with about a kilometre to go, and then it was downhill and very fast to the finish.
"I had two guys who delivered me to the last 300 metres, but I think there was a bit of carnage behind.

"It's my second Giro stage win. It's great to win here in a pure bunch sprint. I'm very happy for the team. There were a lot corners in the finale, that always strings the bunch out but I had a great team."

Goss's improvement from second place in stage two was a sharp contrast to Cavendish, who after picking up yesterday's win was left to scrape himself off the tarmac today. In truth the world champion's problems started long before the final challenge for the line.

At this stage in the race so many teams and riders are nervous – all competing for the thin strips or road, the tiniest gaps between wheels, and all fresh enough to think they can win. The likes of Sky, GreenEdge and Garmin Barracuda have honed their leadout trains but a number of riders are fresh enough to immerse themselves in the sprints. With two kilometres remaining Cavendish found himself isolated from his leadout. Peter Kennaugh led the bunch before swinging off for Geraint Thomas. However the Welshman, seeing that Cavendish was further back, sat up.

By now GreenEdge were in full control, as Goss's rivals fought tooth and nail to secure the Australian's rear wheel. Cavendish at first positioned himself behind former teammate Mark Renshaw but as the line approached he looked to move forward. He was too far back to rival Goss and needed to launch his move earlier than usual but as he began to wind up his speed Robert Ferrari moved from his line, swiping Cavendish's front wheel from under him.

With Goss ahead by a clear set of wheels, Haedo and Farrar were sprinting for the minor places, while Cavendish and Phinney sat up and observed their injuries. Cavendish was on his feet soon enough but the maglia rosa stayed down longer. After a brief spell in an ambulance, Phinney emerged and made his way to the podium to accept his third pink jersey.

"I’m better now," Phinney said. "When I was on the ground I was a bit confused and in a state of shock, but I started to feel better when I was in the ambulance."

"I must have hit something when I fell. It’s a pity that it happened and hopefully it’s nothing important. It’s lucky tomorrow is a rest day."

Wouter gone but not forgotten

Wouter Weylandt's death in last year's Giro d'Italia is still a memory that touches all who hold cycling dear but on the start line in Horsens the Belgian was honoured by his former colleagues and the organisers of the Giro. Weylandt crashed and died during stage 3 of last year's race and it was his former teammates from Leopard-Trek (now RadioShack-Nissan) as well was his friend Tyler Farrar who led the tributes.

A minute's silence was religiously observed with race organiser Michele Acquarone giving an emotional speech in the presence of Weylandt's family. Respects were also paid to Horsens mayor Jan Trøjborg, who had worked tirelessly to bring the Giro to Denmark, only to pass away yesterday, suffering from a heart attack during a bike ride.

The early action

Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda), Reto Hollenstein (Team NetApp), Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM), Mads Christensen (Saxo Bank) and Miguel Minguez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were able to forge a gap. However the sprinters' teams, along with BMC never allowed the breakaway to gain much more than 3 minutes.

Ramus Navardauskas was just 22 seconds down on Phinney in the GC, and a realistic shout for pink with stage 4 team time trial ahead and as the race headed onto the three laps of a 14.3km finishing circuit, the gap was begging to plummet.

With 36 kilometres remaining the break were just 56 seconds clear. Christensen was keen on giving the home fans some cheer and jumped clear. The remnants of the break duly sat up before the Saxo Bank rider followed suit.

Lars Bak, attacked in a repeat of yesterday's tactic, leading the race on the final lap but with 11 kilometres to race the bunch were back together. The scenario was set for a battle royal with Cavendish, Goss, Renshaw, Farrar, Haedo, and Arnaud Demare all positioning themselves for the sprint.

As the Sky train derailed, Orica-GreenEdge seized control, delivering Goss to his second career Giro stage, but behind, Androni's Roberto Ferrari made a sudden dash to his right, sweeping Cavendish's front wheel and causing a chain-reaction pile-up. The Italian was relegated to last place for irregular sprinting.

Full Results

1	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team	4:20:53
2	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
3	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Barracuda
4	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
5	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
6	Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team
7	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
8	Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
9	Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
10	Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia

2012 Giro d'Italia to commemorate anniversary of Weylandt’s death

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/2012-giro-ditalia-to-commemorate-anniversary-of-weylandts-death)

The Giro d’Italia will hold a minute’s silence at the start of stage three of the race Monday in Horsens to commemorate the death of Wouter Weylandt on the descent of the Passo del Bocco climb in stage three of the 2011 Giro.

The Giro organisers noted that it was also on stage three of the race, in 2010, when Weylandt won  in  Middelburg, Holland.

“The third stage of the race, from Horsens to Horsens, will be dedicated to him,” the communique said, “there will be a minute’s silence at the start, followed by the playing of Weylandt’s favourite song, Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon.”

Invited by the organsiation, Weylandt’s family will be present at the ceremony. As the squad themselves proposed, riders from the RadioShack-Nissan team - formed by a fusion from the Leopard-Trek squad, Weylandt’s team, and RadioShack - will be present at the front of the bunch.

Asked this morning about the upcoming anniversary, Tyler Farrar, Weylandt’s close friend said: “Last year it was the third stage where Wouter passed away but two years ago was the third stage which he won and I’ll try to dwell more on those memories than the bad ones.”

As for the decision by the organisation not to use the 108 race number in the 2012 Giro - which Weylandt was wearing last year - Farrar said “that’s really nice. It’s something special and I know his family and friends really appreciate it.”

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2012

Cavendish wins in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/kuurne-brussel-kuurne-2012/results)
Mark Cavendish claimed a straightforward victory in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, delivered to the line perfectly by his Sky teammates.

Resplendent in his world champion's jersey, the Manxman took victory by a decisive margin over FDJ-BigMat rider Yauheni Hutarovich. Vacansoleil-DCM's Kenny Van Hummel was two lengths back in third, while world under 23 champion Arnaud Démare (FDJ-BigMat) was a fine fourth.

Cavendish had suffered with illness earlier in the race, but his Sky team set about bringing the race back together for a bunch finish on the flat run-in to the finish in Kuurne. In the finishing straight, CJ Sutton piloted Cavendish to victory.

“After the cobbles I told CJ that I didn’t feel so good,” Cavendish said afterwards. “Once we took control it got better although I was still vomiting. It’s incredible. I don’t know if I can take any credit for this win. The whole day they looked after me. I was never in the win and always in the front of the peloton. It’s a great win.”

Coming into the final kilometre, the stage appeared set for a duel between Cavendish and his great rival André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) but the German found himself boxed in and faded in the final meters, finishing tenth.

“At 300m from the finish line I was confident that I could not lose the sprint. Then Van Hummel swerved from right to left and there was no more space for me. I should’ve gone earlier,” a clearly disappointed Greipel said.

A fast start

In a quick and nervous first hour at 50km/h no attacks proved successful. After a collective stop at a railway crossing a group powered away.

Seven riders made the day's early breakaway: Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Niko Eeckhout (An Post-Sean Kelly), Jérôme Baugnies (Team Netapp), Koen Barbé (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Gilles Devillers (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Justin Van Hoecke (Wallonie Bruxelles-Credit Agricole) and Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, le credit en ligne).

At the fourth climb of the day the seven had a gap of four minutes on a peloton led by the Sky team. By the time they reached the Oude Kwaremont, the gap was down to three minutes. Van Avermaet set the pace up front, dropping all his companions except for 41 year-old Eeckhout. At the top of the long cobbled helling another half a minute was whittled off the gap thanks to the efforts from Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) at the front of the peloton.

The selective climb caused some damage and the peloton split in several groups. A first group of about twenty-five riders including fast men Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) and John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) quickly picked up half a minute on a sprinter-studded peloton where Lotto-Belisol did the work.

With seventy kilometers to go Eeckhout and Van Avermaet were re-joined by Barbé, Fouchard and Baugnies. They had 1:30 on the Boonen group, with the peloton trailing by fifty more seconds, but efforts from the Vancansoleil-DCM team, Lotto-Belisol and Europcar closed first the gap to the Boonen group, and then the fate of the seven up front was sealed.

Eeckhout’s effort

As his group was being brought back, Eeckhout attacked and was followed by Wouter Mol (Vacancoleil-DCM), and was later joined by Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) and Sébastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony).

With Sky content to let a group dangle just within their reach, the new escape quickly picked up half a minute at 40km from the finish line. When approaching the finish line a first time, having two more local circuits of 16km ahead of them, the gap ran up to a minute.

The Sky train was in full control, however, and one lap later half a minute was gone from that gap. At 10km from the finish line there were only 10 seconds left and a bunch sprint seemed unavoidable.

Once more it was Eeckhout who was the last man standing, having attacked his companions as the peloton was nipping on their heels, and had a brief foray with a Engoulvent before the high pace of the Sky-led group sped past.

With four men ahead of Cavendish, Sky hurtled into the finishing chute at such a pace that no rider stood a chance at coming around the world champion. Only Hutarovich could get close to his wheel, while Van Hummel looked glued to the tarmac as he struggled over the final meters to claim third.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:27:30
2	Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat
3	Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
4	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
5	Alexander Serebryakov (Rus) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
6	Tom Veelers (Ned) Project 1t4i
7	Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar
8	Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
9	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
10	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team

Tour of Qatar, Stage 6 and Overall

February 10, Stage 6: Sealine Beach Resort - Doha Corniche 120km

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-qatar-2012/stage-6/results)

On another day of high drama at the 2012 Tour of Qatar, promising French rider Arnaud Demare raced to the first professional victory of his career in the colours of FDJ-BigMat at the sixth and final stage. 20-year-old Demare came home ahead of Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) and Rabobank’s 2011 winner Mark Renshaw, who put a frustrating week behind him with a podium finish on the final day.

Belgium’s Tom Boonen’s 15th place finish on the day was enough for him to win the overall GC and points classification and meant that he ended the day celebrating a fourth victory in this race, fully justifying his tag as the “King of the Desert”. Garmin-Barracuda’s Tyler Farrar finished as runner-up, 28 seconds behind Boonen, with Team Sky’s Juan Antonio Flecha five seconds further back in third.

This year’s race, as always, has been marred by a number of crashes and punctures and today was no different. With the riders finding their feet in new teams and with the flat nature of the course making for tight, fast and bunch finishes, bumps have become unavoidable.

The biggest casualty of the race was stage three and stage five winner Mark Cavendish (Team Sky), who came together with two other riders close to the finish and suffered a nasty fall that brought gashes to his legs and to his left shoulder. Cavendish was helped to his feet by his teammate and friend Bernie Eisel and bravely got on a spare bike and finished the stage.

Cavendish’s crash hindered a large proportion of the field in the finale, meaning that Demare’s decision to go for home early paid off. Earlier on the field had been helped by a considerable tail wind as they made their way from the Sealine Beach Resort to the Doha Corniche. Before the peloton’s arrival there a pack of seven riders broke away, building a lead that reached a peak gap of 2:20.

At the Doha Corniche the riders encountered 11 6km laps around the harbour side with the pack making relatively heavy weather of catching the group in front. They finally bridged the gap with just 15km to go, which provided the platform for yet another frantic bunch sprint to the line. Demare’s tactics proved shrewd as he crossed the line for what in the end was a cosy victory for the 2011 U23 road world champion.

"I was placed in ideal conditions in the last couple of kilometres with the help of my teammates," Demare said. "It's an amazing feeling. Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar came to congratulate me. I have admired them in front of my TV for so long."

Elsewhere, a serious verbal altercation took place after the finish between Rabobank’s main leadout rider Graeme Brown and RadioShack-Nissan’s Robert Wagner. Brown accused Wagner of bumping him repeatedly and the two men had to be dragged apart as tempers flared on what was the hottest day of the race so far.

But the week has undoubtedly belonged to Boonen, who claimed both the golden and silver jerseys by using a combination of his considerable experience here and a fitness edge that he honed at the Tour de San Luis. His fourth victory in the race tasted especially sweet, as he told Cyclingnews.

“All four wins here have been hard,” he said. “If you win four times it’s 24 days of hard labour. But this was nice because there were a lot of good riders here. Two days ago the hard stage we had was really like a classic. Normally after a hard stage you can break it up a bit in the following ones but this year it has been a man to man fight. We controlled the last two stages as a team so I am happy. I think that this year has definitely been a very important one.”

Boonen’s performances and those of his principal accomplice Gert Steegmans meant that Omega Pharma-Quick Step were able to add the team GC to the two jerseys he won. The battle for the young riders white jersey was won by Garmin-Barracuda’s Ramunas Navardauskas. It was a fitting reward, alongside Farrar’s second place, for his team, whose consistency throughout the week shone through.

Stage 6 Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-BigMat	2:20:44
2	Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha
3	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank
4	Roger Kluge (Ger) Project 1t4i
5	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
6	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Barracuda
7	Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
8	Allan Davis (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team
9	Aaron Kemps (Aus) Champion System
10	Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team

 

Final general classification

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep	15:42:14
2	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Barracuda	0:00:28
3	Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Sky Procycling	0:00:33
4	Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:00:34
5	Tom Veelers (Ned) Project 1t4i	0:01:00
6	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:05
7	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan	0:01:06
8	Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Barracuda	0:01:09
9	Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) GreenEdge Cycling Team	0:01:10
10	Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team	0:01:14