Veelers powers to victory
Tom Veelers claimed victory on stage three at the Circuit Franco-Belge as the race came down to a bunch sprint once again.
Last Updated: 01/10/11 3:57pm
Tom Veelers claimed victory on stage three at the Circuit Franco-Belge as the race came down to a bunch sprint once again.
The Skil-Shimano man went one better than his second place on stage two, reversing Friday’s result in Poperinge by edging out Chris Sutton (Team Sky) at the finish.
The result left the two riders tied at the top of the standings yet a greater number of points in the points classification meant it was Veelers who pulled on the yellow jersey in Ichtegem.
Overnight leader Robbie McEwen (RadioShack) was also in the mix at the finish but was pushed back to fourth on the line by Sebastien Chavanel (Europcar).
Despite a consistent performance that meant the Australian dropped out of the race lead to third, setting up a mouth-watering final stage with the majority of the field still covered by a handful of seconds.
Belgian bonus
With bonus seconds so crucial there was always likely to be a fight to make the day’s breakaway and so it proved as the riders rolled out of Antoing on a bright Saturday morning.
A number of early attacks were not handed much rope, meaning Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) was the first man through the opening intermediate sprint in Ets Colette, picking up bonus points in the process to edge further up the leaderboard.
Eventually a large group used strength in numbers to move clear, David Vigano (Leopard Trek) bridging across to complete a nine-man collective which quickly built up a gap of over four minutes.
Despite being held up by a railway crossing the leaders still had a gap of 2:30 as they entered the first of four 13km finishing circuits in Ichtegem.
Yellow jersey-holder McEwen took a vital bonus second at the final intermediate sprint as things came back together, Team Sky again taking the initiative into the final five kilometres.
Sutton was unable to make it two stages in a row but remains within touching distance of the lead as the race comes to a head with a 175.4km test from Mons to Tournai.
