Tour of Britain: An Post rider Bagdonas wins stage seven, Boom retains yellow jersey
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Saturday, September 17, 2011

Tour of Britain: An Post rider Bagdonas wins stage seven, Boom retains yellow jersey

by Shane Stokes at 11:40 AM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results, Tour of Britain
 
Boom retains the lead before decisive time trial in London

Gediminas BagdonasLithuanian rider Gediminas Bagdonas seized the biggest win of his career today at the Tour of Britain, winning head of five other breakaway riders into Sandringham. After the sextet succeeded in building a winning advantage over the main field, the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly rider outsprinted Ian Wilkinson (Endura), Mathieu Claude (Europcar) plus the rest of the break.

“I am very happy today. I won a big race and my team did really well,” he beamed afterwards. “It is very important for me to win today and for the people at home in Lithuania. The support today was very good and I am very happy.

“Tomorrow I will be going for the time trial. Today I had good legs so I will go for it tomorrow.”

The result is a considerable success for the Continental team, which relied on an invitation from the race organisers to be able to compete against the bigger WorldTour teams, but has ridden aggressively through the week. Another of its riders, the Belgian Pieter Ghyllebert, is the leader and likely winner of the sprints classification.

Bagdonas got clear early on with Wilkinson, Mathieu Claude (Europcar), Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized) Richard Handley (Raleigh), and Stijn Neirynck (Topsport), building a lead of over seven minutes along the 200 kilometre route from Bury St Edmunds.

Battling wet conditions, the lead was whittled down by the Rabobank and HTC teams, but the chase was too little, too late. The bunch was led across the line by Mark Cavendish, one minute 23 seconds behind.

Wilkinson was disappointed not to pick up the stage win, but had a nice consolation prize in winning the most aggressive rider award. He talked about the finish and how he tried to hit the line first. “It certainly wasn’t flat out there today, up and down all the time like a Belgian stage,” he said. “Raleigh [Handley – ed.] went early from the corner and that set me up perfectly. I saw the gantry but misjudged it and went too soon. I eased up into the head wind and they fought back. I came back at them but it was too late. It’s great to win the combativity prize, though.

“I was happy in the break, I stiffened up a bit, as most of us do at some point, around the 40 kilometre mark but I got fired up again for the finish. With a bit more practice I’ll come back and win a stage next year. It’s a big criterium tomorrow so we’ll give it a good shot.”

Race leader Boom finished in the main bunch and remains 28 seconds clear of closest rival Leopold Koenig (Team Netapp) and is a further second ahead of Garmin-Cervélo’s Dan Lloyd.

He’s looking more and more likely to win the race, and his comments reflected that. “Another long day tomorrow but I am confident for the time trial and criterium,” he said, referring to the two stages ahead. “This is a lovely place, it’s my first time in the UK and I think it’s great.

“The conditions were perfect for me and the team. Similar to what we ride in Holland and Belgium. I am trying to win The Tour of Britain and will do my best tomorrow.”

The race concludes tomorrow with two stages; an 8.8 kilometre time trial and an 88.8 kilometre road race. Both are based in London.

Break times things perfectly to contest win:


Today’s stage would once again see a move go clear early on but, unlike the other such breaks this week, it would go all the way to the finish. The six man move clipped away inside the first five kilometres and comprised Bagdonas, Wilkinson, Claude, plus Stijn Enrick (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) and Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport-Specialized).

Bagdonas led the riders over the top of the category 3 Lavenham Hill, 12.2 kilometres after the start, with Wilkinson and Neirynck second and third. The next line to contest was the first Yodel sprint, which came at Ipswich (km 44.3). Bagdonas was again first there, ahead of Handley while 2.6 kilometres later, Neirynck and Sybrandy were the first two riders at the Category two climb of Christchurch Park.

The gap was climbing and would go out to a maximum of over seven minutes before the pendulum would swing the other way and things would begin tightening up.

Handley was first over the line at the category three climb of Framsden (km 63.1). That left just two Yodel intermediate sprints to contest, at Diss (km 89.9) and Wymodham (km 116.8) would both go to Bagdonas ahead of Neirynck.

With 25 kilometres remaining the leaders still had an advantage of three minutes 26 seconds, and so it was almost certain they would remain clear until the line. That’s how things played out, with Bagdonas’ win ahead of Wilkinson and the others coming one minutes and 23 seconds before Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) beat Andy Fenn (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly) for seventh place.

The latter’s team-mate Pieter Ghyllebert didn’t have to do any intermediate sprints and ended the day with a very healthy lead over Bagdonas. The difference between his 36 points and the latter’s 15 meant that he now can’t be caught in the competition, and must simply finish tomorrow’s final stage to win the Yodel sprints jersey.

“We did a good job today as a team,” he said, referring to his grip on the jersey plus Bagdonas’ stage success. “I have taken a big lead in the Yodel Sprints jersey and my team mates defended well so it’s good. Tomorrow, I am going to go easy on the time trial I think and then going to give everything I have for the last stage.”

His performances plus the stage win achieved by the team have more than ensured that it earned its wildcard invite to the race. He’s enjoyed his time on the various podiums since last Sunday. “It is a big Tour and I have the jersey since stage one. I think for me to hold it for seven days it is very nice,” he smiled.

Another jersey winner was also confirmed, pending his finish in London tomorrow. Jon Tiernan Locke (Rapha Condor Sharp) ended the day with 71 points to Russell Hampton’s (Sigma Sport - Specialized) 48. “Winning the Skoda King of the Mountains jersey wasn’t an objective at the start of the race but I saw an opportunity and thought why not?” he said. “I know my climbing is good so just went for it.

“It means a lot to the team to have this jersey. I don’t think a British team has won it in a long time and it gets us on the podium so it’s cool. I am lying around eighth on general classification but only four seconds off second place so it’s all to play for on the Time Trial. I want to do a good time trial and then take the criterium as it comes.”


 

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Tour of Britain (2.1) Stage 7 Results: Bury St. Edmunds to Sandringham Estate (199.7km)

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
ltu LTU 1 Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 04:33:17
gbr GBR 2 Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) s.t.
fra FRA 3 Mathieu Claude (Europcar) s.t.
bel BEL 4 Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 5 Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) 00:00:04
ned NED 6 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:00:11
gbr GBR 7 Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 00:01:23
gbr GBR 8 Andrew Fenn (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ita ITA 9 Giacomo Nizzolo (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
gbr GBR 10 Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) s.t.
gbr GBR 11 Tobyn Horton (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
ned NED 12 Joost Posthuma (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
ger GER 13 Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
esp ESP 14 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 15 Tom Last (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
nzl NZL 16 Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
cze CZE 17 Jan Barta (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 18 Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh) s.t.
ned NED 19 Lars Boom (Rabobank) s.t.
gbr GBR 20 Mark Mcnally (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ger GER 21 Linus Gerdemann (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
gbr GBR 22 Steven Cummings (Team Sky) s.t.
gbr GBR 23 Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
pol POL 24 Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
nzl NZL 25 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 26 Jonathan Tiernan-lock (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
gbr GBR 27 Jonathan Mcevoy (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
ger GER 28 Dominik Klemme (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
est EST 29 René Mandri (Endura Racing) s.t.
nor NOR 30 Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
ita ITA 31 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) s.t.
bel BEL 32 Stijn Joseph (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
cze CZE 33 Leopold Konig (Team Netapp) s.t.
bel BEL 34 Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 35 Roger Hammond (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
gbr GBR 36 James Sampson (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
aus AUS 37 Michael Rogers (Team Sky) s.t.
nor NOR 38 Gabriel Rasch (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
swe SWE 39 Alexander Wetterhal (Endura Racing) s.t.
aus AUS 40 Zakkari Dempster (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
NAM 41 Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
ned NED 42 Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
ger GER 43 Paul Voss (Endura Racing) s.t.
gbr GBR 44 Tom Last (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
gbr GBR 45 Russel Hampton (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
gbr GBR 46 Peter Williams (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) s.t.
fra FRA 47 Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) s.t.
fra FRA 48 Gael Le Bellec (Team Raleigh) s.t.
gbr GBR 49 Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
ned NED 50 Bert-jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
bel BEL 51 Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
sui SUI 52 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) s.t.
gbr GBR 53 Steven Lampier (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:01:31
ned NED 54 Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
gbr GBR 55 Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) s.t.
pol POL 56 Bartosz Huzarski (Team Netapp) 00:01:33
aus AUS 57 Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) s.t.
fra FRA 58 Yohann Gene (Europcar) s.t.
fra FRA 59 Franck Bouyer (Europcar) s.t.
aus AUS 60 William Clarke (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
den DEN 61 Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
usa USA 62 Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
aus AUS 63 Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) s.t.
bel BEL 64 Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
can CAN 65 Jamie Sparling (Team Raleigh) s.t.
irl IRL 66 Ronan Mclaughlin (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:01:38
aus AUS 67 Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
ned NED 68 Bram Tankink (Rabobank) 00:01:41
aus AUS 69 Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:01:45
irl IRL 70 Matthew Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
aut AUT 71 Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
gbr GBR 72 Andrew Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
bel BEL 73 Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
fra FRA 74 Anthony Charteau (Europcar) s.t.
gbr GBR 75 Ben Swift (Team Sky) 00:01:49
aus AUS 76 Michael Matthews (Rabobank) 00:01:51
gbr GBR 77 Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
fra FRA 78 Damien Gaudin (Europcar) 00:01:58
irl IRL 79 Mark Cassidy (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:04:13
aus AUS 80 Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:04:26
gbr GBR 81 Daniel Fleeman (Team Raleigh) s.t.
ned NED 82 Rick Flens (Rabobank) 00:07:10
ned NED 83 Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank) s.t.
aut AUT DNF Daniel Schorn (Team Netapp)  
bel BEL DNS Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM)  

General classification after stage 7:

Country Result Name Team Time
ned NED 1 Lars Boom (Rabobank) 24:47:58
cze CZE 2 Leopold Konig (Team Netapp) 00:00:28
gbr GBR 3 Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:29
ger GER 4 Linus Gerdemann (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:00:31
gbr GBR 5 Steven Cummings (Team Sky) 00:00:32
cze CZE 6 Jan Barta (Team Netapp) s.t.
bel BEL 7 Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) s.t.
gbr GBR 8 Jonathan Tiernan-lock (Rapha Condor Sharp) s.t.
esp ESP 9 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Endura Racing) 00:00:50
ned NED 10 Joost Posthuma (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:00:52
aus AUS 11 Michael Rogers (Team Sky) 00:01:16
gbr GBR 12 Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 00:01:49
ned NED 13 Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:01:51
ned NED 14 Bert-jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:01:54
gbr GBR 15 Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 00:02:11
gbr GBR 16 Andrew Fenn (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
ned NED 17 Bram Tankink (Rabobank) 00:02:14
ger GER 18 Dominik Klemme (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:02:16
NAM 19 Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:02:25
aus AUS 20 Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:02:36
aus AUS 21 Michael Matthews (Rabobank) 00:03:35
bel BEL 22 Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:04:26
gbr GBR 23 Russel Hampton (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:04:28
den DEN 24 Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) 00:04:31
aus AUS 25 Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) 00:06:02
gbr GBR 26 Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) 00:06:50
fra FRA 27 Anthony Charteau (Europcar) 00:07:12
nzl NZL 28 Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:08:23
pol POL 29 Bartosz Huzarski (Team Netapp) 00:08:27
nzl NZL 30 Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) 00:08:31
fra FRA 31 Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) s.t.
gbr GBR 32 Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:08:37
nor NOR 33 Gabriel Rasch (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
ltu LTU 34 Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:09:16
nor NOR 35 Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:09:31
gbr GBR 36 Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:09:55
gbr GBR 37 Jonathan Mcevoy (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:10:01
gbr GBR 38 Liam Holohan (Team Raleigh) s.t.
aus AUS 39 Zakkari Dempster (HTC-Highroad) 00:10:12
ger GER 40 Paul Voss (Endura Racing) 00:10:19
est EST 41 René Mandri (Endura Racing) 00:10:21
fra FRA 42 Gael Le Bellec (Team Raleigh) 00:10:34
pol POL 43 Marcin Bialoblocki (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:10:37
ned NED 44 Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
gbr GBR 45 Roger Hammond (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:10:58
usa USA 46 Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:11:08
aut AUT 47 Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) 00:11:19
ita ITA 48 Giacomo Nizzolo (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:12:00
ger GER 49 Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:12:49
fra FRA 50 Franck Bouyer (Europcar) 00:12:54
gbr GBR 51 Daniel Fleeman (Team Raleigh) 00:13:04
gbr GBR 52 Andrew Tennant (Rapha Condor Sharp) 00:13:05
gbr GBR 53 Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) 00:13:23
ned NED 54 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:13:24
aus AUS 55 Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:13:36
ita ITA 56 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) 00:14:04
bel BEL 57 Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:14:16
gbr GBR 58 Ben Swift (Team Sky) 00:14:39
irl IRL 59 Ronan Mclaughlin (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:14:43
fra FRA 60 Mathieu Claude (Europcar) 00:14:52
bel BEL 61 Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) s.t.
gbr GBR 62 Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) 00:15:06
gbr GBR 63 Steven Lampier (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:15:14
swe SWE 64 Alexander Wetterhal (Endura Racing) 00:15:22
aus AUS 65 Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) 00:15:24
sui SUI 66 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) 00:15:25
bel BEL 67 Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:15:32
aus AUS 68 William Clarke (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:15:53
gbr GBR 69 James Sampson (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:15:58
gbr GBR 70 Tom Last (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) s.t.
fra FRA 71 Yohann Gene (Europcar) 00:16:00
gbr GBR 72 Peter Williams (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:16:18
can CAN 73 Jamie Sparling (Team Raleigh) 00:17:11
irl IRL 74 Matthew Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) 00:17:19
gbr GBR 75 Mark Mcnally (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:17:34
gbr GBR 76 Tobyn Horton (Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta) 00:19:20
gbr GBR 77 Thomas Murray (Sigma Sport - Specialized ) 00:19:30
fra FRA 78 Damien Gaudin (Europcar) 00:20:59
bel BEL 79 Stijn Joseph (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) 00:23:47
irl IRL 80 Mark Cassidy (An Post-M. Donnelly-Grant Thornton - S...) 00:04:22
ned NED 81 Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank) 00:32:31
ned NED 82 Rick Flens (Rabobank) 00:32:56
aus AUS 83 Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) 00:35:18

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