Aussie rules at Eneco Tour

Robbie McEwen pounced late to land the first stage proper of the Eneco Tour in Holland on Wednesday.

Tuft remains in the leader's white jersey

Robbie McEwen pounced late to land the first stage proper of the Eneco Tour in Holland on Wednesday. The 178km route from Steenwijk ended with a climb up the Grebbeberg in Rhenen but McEwen waited until the gradient flattened out right at the finish before launching his surge for the line. Powering up the right of the road, the Katusha rider had just enough in reserve to hold off Sebastián Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Allan Davis (Astana). The spoils had looked set to go to Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen who threw down a solo attack with 800 metres to go but the Norwegian couldn't keep up the momentum and was overhauled in the closing stages. Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions), the impressive winner of the opening prologue, remains in the leader's white jersey after finishing in the front group. However the stage was marked by crosswinds and a number of big names were caught out, losing more than a minute on the general classification as the peloton splintered.

Plan of attack

A three-man break featuring Pavel Brutt (Katusha), Adriano Malori (Lampre) and Albert Timmer (Skil - Shimano) had gone clear just six kilometres into the stage but they were never allowed an advantage of more than three minutes by the peloton. A couple of crashes in the main group briefly gave the breakaway trio hope and they led by 27 seconds with 13km remaining but as soon as the sprinters' teams started to get organised that gap was whittled down and they were caught 8km from the line. That sparked a perfectly-timed attack from Rabobank who made the crosswinds work to their advantage as the front group was whittled down even further but it was Katusha's McEwen who had the final say. Afterwards he told reporters: "I felt good in Hamburg [at the Vattenfall Cyclassics] at the weekend and the form has really been coming back in the last few weeks. "It feels good to win again, especially as this wasn't exactly a finish which was suited to me." Stage one result: 1 - Robbie McEwen - (AUS) - Katyusha - (4:16:34)
2 - Sebastián Haedo - (ARG) - Saxo Bank - (same time)
3 - Allan Davis - (AUS) - Astana - (same time)
4 - Francesco Chicchi - (ITA) - Liquigas - (same time)
5 - Jürgen Roelandts - (BEL) - Omega Pharma-Lotto - (same time)
6 - Lieuwe Westra - (NED) - Vacansoleil - (same time)
7 - Yauheni Hutarovich - (BLR) - FDJ - (same time)
8 - José Iván Gutiérrez - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (same time)
9 - Christian Knees - (GER) - Milram - (same time)
10 - Maxime Vantomme - (BEL) - Katyusha - (same time)
Overall standings after stage one: 1 - Svein Tuft - (CAN) - Garmin - (4:22:52)
2 - Jos van Emden - (NED) - Rabobank - (+5)
3 - Lars Boom - (NED) - Rabobank - (+6)
4 - Maarten Tjallingii - (NED) - Rabobank - (+6)
5 - Edvald Boasson Hagen - (NOR) - Team Sky - (+7)
6 - Tony Martin - (GER) - HTC-Columbia - (+7)
7 - Richie Porte - (AUS) - Saxo Bank - (+9)
8 - Christian Knees - (GER) - Milram - (+11)
9 - Patrick Gretsch - (GER) - HTC-Columbia - (+12)
10 - Greg Henderson - (NZL) - Team Sky - (+12)