 Boasson Hagen has now won 12 races in the 2009 season |
Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen won stage five of the Tour of Britain, his third stage win in a row, to snatch the leader's yellow jersey. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish ahead of Italian Filippo Pozzato and Britain's Russell Downing in Stoke. In doing so, the Team Columbia rider surged into a nine-second lead in the general classification over Kai Reus. Stage six runs from Frome, Somerset, to Bideford, north Devon, and the race finishes in London on Saturday. Last week Boasson Hagen agreed a move from Team Columbia to Team Sky, the British road team backed by broadcasting giant BSkyB, for the 2010 season.  | I was really disappointed that Bradley [Wiggins] dropped out because it makes it so much harder to control a race |
Ranked three in the world, he has now won six Tour of Britain stages in two seasons and 12 races this year. "I'm really happy to win after very hard work from the whole team," said Boasson Hagen, who won the stage into Stoke last year as well. "We tried to split the group but it came together again, so we decided to just work for the sprint. "It's a nice finish, a little bit tricky but I like it." In third place overall is Australia's Chris Sutton, who believes his hopes of winning the Tour may have gone as a result of Garmin-Slipstream team-mate Bradley Wiggins' decision to quit the race. British rider Wiggins, fourth in the Tour de France, withdrew at the end of the fourth stage in Blackpool to focus on the world time-trial championships in Switzerland next week. Sutton finished the fifth stage in fifth, but is now 14 seconds behind the in-form Boasson Hagen. "I was starting to think about going for the general classification rather than just stages but that is looking less likely now," said Sutton. "It's still possible but with Bradley dropping out and Boasson Hagen in such good form it makes it really tough. "I was really disappointed that Bradley dropped out because it makes it so much harder to control a race with one less rider than the other teams. | 606: DEBATE |
"He's been like a mentor to me and he really motivates me to push myself and do as well as I can." But with the two toughest legs of this year's eight-stage course still to come, Sutton, who won the opening stage in York on Saturday, is adamant he won't throw in the towel. The riders will cycle more than 340km in the next two days and Sutton added: "Everything is going against the team but I'm not giving up. "I'm sure that me and my team-mates can be there or thereabouts at the end of the week."
Stage five result:
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Columbia-HTC) 3hrs 15mins 57secs
2 Filippo Pozzato (Ita/Team Katusha)
3 Russell Downing (GB/Candi TV- Pinarello RT)
4 Aitor Galdos (Spa/Euskaltel-Euskadi)
5 Simon Clarke (Aus/ISD-Neri)
6 Reinier Honig (Ned/Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
7 Pierpaolo De Negri (Ita/ISD-Neri)
8 Carlo Scognamiglio (Ita/Barloworld)
9 Christopher Sutton (Aus/Garmin-Slipstream)
10 Mauro Finetto (Ita/CSF Group-Navigare)
11 Steven Cummings (GB/Barloworld)
18 Geraint Thomas (GB/Barloworld)
All at same time General classification:
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Columbia-HTC) 18hrs 12mins 07secs
2 Kai Reus (Ned/Rabobank) at 0.09
3 Christopher Sutton (Aus/Garmin-Slipstream at 0.14
4 Martin Reimer (Ger/Cervelo Test Team) at 0.17
5 Russell Downing (GB/Candi TV-Pinarello RT) at 0.29
6 Simon Clarke (Aus/ISD-Neri) at 0.30
7 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra/Agritubel) at same time
8 Reinier Honig (Ned/ Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) at 0.32
9 Rob Ruygh (Ned/Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) at same time
10 Federico Canuti (Ita/CSF Group-Navigare) at 0.34
12 Daniel Lloyd (GB/Cervelo Test Team) at same time
14 Malcolm Elliott (GB/Candi TV-Pinarello RT) at same time
16 Geraint Thomas (GB/Barloworld) at same time
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