Eneco Tour 2016 Stage 7: Boasson Hagen wins stage, Terpstra the overall

The closing stage in Eneco Tour stirs up the overall. Leader Rohan Dennis crashes while Niki Terpstra takes control on the cobbles and steep climbs of Flanders. He escapes at the right moment with among others Boasson Hagen. The Norwegian takes the stage win, the Dutchman the overall. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 7th stage Eneco Tour

1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (nor)
2. Niki Terpstra (nld) + 0.01
3. Oliver Naesen (bel) s.t.
4. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 0.42
5. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) s.t.
6. Peter Sagan (svk) + 0.46
7. Wilco Kelderman (nld) s.t.
8. Jos van Emden (nld) + 0.48
9. Ion Izagirre (spa) s.t.
10. Dmitri Gruzdev (kaz) s.t.

GC after 7th stage
1. Niki Terpstra (nld)
2. Oliver Naesen (bel) + 0.31
3. Peter Sagan (svk) + 1.00
4. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) + 1.02
5. Jos van Emden (nld) + 1.03
6. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 1.11
7. Zdenek Stybar (cze) + 1.15
8. Ion Izagirre (spa) + 1.19
9. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 1.22
10. Bob Jungels (lux) + 1.31

Race report
After 67 kilometres of racing nine riders manage to escape. Their names are: Tim Wellens, Roy Curvers, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Carlos Verona, Ruslan Tleubayev, Marc Sarreau, Winner Anacona, Brian Van Goethem and Simone Antonini. The maximum gap is almost 4 minutes.

It starts to rain with 60 kilometres to go. A signal for Wellens to accelerate. Anacona, Curvers, Verona and Nordhaug are able to catch up. But at the Wall of Geraardsbergen they have to let him go.

Leader Rohan Dennis hits the tarmac with 50 kms left and he is forced to chase. A little later Wellens is reeled in.

Bob Jungels is the next to attack, while he is accompanied by his team mate Terpstra. Naesen, Juul Jensen, Boasson Hagen, Lutsenko, Sütterlin, Greipel and Van Poppel are the others. Yet the last two hit the tarmac.

At the penultimate full climb up the Wall of Geraardsbergen Sagan tries to close the gap to the front, but he doesn’t succeed. Terpstra and Naesen are the first to crest.

In the Golden Kilometre the front group features Terpstra, Naesen, Boasson Hagen, Jungels and Sütterlin. Terpstra takes a 3 x 3 seconds time bonus, while Jungels gets dropped.

When Naesen speeds up with 6 kms remaining and that’s too much for Sütterlin. In the sprint at the lower slopes of the Wall of Geraardsbergen bests Terpstra, yet the Dutchman doesn’t mind as he takes the overall. Naesen, who finishes the stage in third, closes the Eneco Tour in second, Sagan in third. The World Champion is the new leader in the UCI World Tour.