News: Lars Boom wins stage 2 of Haut Var

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Tour of Britain winner Lars Boom won the mountainous stage 2 of Haut Var whilst Frenchman Arthur Vichot won the overall. Aussie  Lachlan Norris is the top rider for Raleigh in their first race of the season.

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The final stage of Haut Var saw Tour of Britain winner Lars Boom sprint home from a small group to win the stage whilst Frenchman Arthur Vichot took the overall after race leader Thor Hushovd with this climbing legs on failed to bring the break by a mere 14 seconds.

This was a hard stage with more than 3000 metres of climbing over a distance of 207km. A breakaway of more than two dozen got away not long after the 207-kilometre race began. As the riders in the break began to dwindle and its maximum lead of four minutes began to shrink, BMC rider Daniel Oss said it was tough knowing what was happening behind.

“It was difficult to talk with the directors and my teammates,” he said. “Some guys in the breakaway wanted to make it to the finish and some did not. It was hard all day and some were pushing harder than others. But during the race, the selection was happening naturally.”

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A few weeks Lachlan Norris was blowing the candles out on his birthday cake in Nottingham. Today he was Raleigh’s top finisher in Haut Var.

BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Fabio Baldato said with the gap to a small chase group with racer leader Hushovd (BMC) was less than a minute inside the final 10 kilometres but the break held on with Lars Boom (Blanco Pro Cycling Team) and overall winner Arthur Vichot (FDJ), who had bridged up to the breakaway on the last climb achieving their respective goals.

“Of course I’m disappointed not to win the race overall, but my stage win Saturday and how I felt today is a big boost to my confidence,” Hushovd said. The stage winner though, 2011 Tour of Britain winner Lars Boom said of the race “Immediately after the start, I felt confident. Laurens and I initiated the early breakaway and controlled the climbs. Eventually, there were only five riders fighting for the stage win. When I started the sprint, I opened up a gap of a few metres, enough to win the stage”, explained the stage winner following his second victory this early in the season.

The aggressive Laurens ten Dam meanwhile explained “I decided to go for the attack after riding the Tour de Méditerranéen. During the first stage, I was caught just 10 kilometers before the finish line. But in the final stage, I made sure I was in the early breakaway with Lars.”

“Too bad Vichot made the jump to our group – we were on our way to take the first and second place overall. Still, I am very happy with my third place in the overall classification. We recovered well after we decided to do another 35 kilometres of training following the first stage. My legs felt really good again today, it shows I am in good health”.

First race of 2013 for Team Raleigh

The race also saw the Raleigh team in its biggest event since the team was reborn a few years ago and its top finisher was Australian climber Lachlan Norris in 30th, in the same time as Thor Hushovd and a few places ahead of Tour Down Under winner Tom-Jelte Slagter. Mark Christian meanwhile finished ahead of names such as the Thomas Voeckler and Giovanni Visconti.

Raleigh’s team manager Cherie Pridham said after the race “It was an exciting baptism of fire for Team Raleigh! Our first race of the year was at such a high level, the guys rode very positive. Stage 2 today was a difficult stage not just terrain wise but 210km to boot.”

“We had three guys in the chase group. Mark Christian rode a very consistent race, Lachlan found his legs today and rode very strong and it was a good first experience for us at this level. A bit like footy and we at the bottom of the Premier League but we’ve got to start somewhere, and I am very pleased with everyone’s performances over the 2 days.

“Now we have a few days to recover and straight into the La Drôme Classic and Classic Sud Ardèche both UCI1.1 next weekend.”

Stage 2
1 Lars Boom, Blanco Pro Cycling Team 5:18:06
2 Arthur Vichot, Equipe Cycliste Fdj
3 Daniel Oss Bmc Racing Team
4 Laurens Ten Dam Blanco Pro Cycling Team
5 Pierrick Fedrigo Equipe Cycliste Fdj 0:04
6 Thor Hushovd Bmc Racing Team 0:14
7 Samuel Dumoulin Ag2r La Mondiale
8 Etxegibel García Egoitz Cofidis Solutions Crédits
9 Justin Jules La Pomme Marseille
10 Julien Simon Sojasun

14 Nicolas Roche Team Saxo-Tinkoff
30 Lachlan Norris Team Raleigh – Gac
33 Tom-Jelte Slagter Blanco Pro Cycling Team
47 Mark Christian Team Raleigh – Gac 2:21
59 Giovanni Visconti Movistar Team
68 Voeckler Thomas Europcar 2:49
75 Rob Britton Team Raleigh – Gac 5:35
93 Jens Voigt Radioshack – Leopard 11:23
99 Alexandre Blain Team Raleigh – Gac 22:19

DNF
Jack Bauer Garmin – Sharp –
Michael Rogers Team Saxo-Tinkoff –
Eric Berthou Team Raleigh – Gac –
Evan Oliphant Team Raleigh – Gac –
Mark O’ Brien Team Raleigh – Gac –
Matt Holmes Team Raleigh – Gac –

Final Overall
1. Arthur Vichot, Equipe Cycliste Fdj 9:00:28
2. Lars Boom, Blanco Pro Cycling Team
3. Laurens Ten Dam Blanco Pro Cycling Team
4. Pierrick Fedrigo Equipe Cycliste Fdj 0:04
5. Thor Hushovd Bmc Racing Team 0:14
6. Samuel Dumoulin Ag2r La Mondiale
7. Egoitz García Etxegibel Cofidis Solutions Crédits
8. Justin Jules La Pomme Marseille
9. Julien Simon Sojasun
10. Mathieu Drujon Big Mat – Auber 93

39 Lachlan Norris Team Raleigh – Gac 1:05
54 Mark Christian Team Raleigh – Gac 2:54
85 Rob Britton Team Raleigh – Gac 9:45
97 Jens Voigt Radioshack – Leopard 19:39
99 Alexandre Blain Team Raleigh – Gac 32:09

 

 

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