Robbie McEwen sprinted to victory on stage four of the Circuit Franco-Belge to secure the overall title in Tournai.
Time bonuses hand Australian the win
Robbie McEwen sprinted to victory on stage four of the Circuit Franco-Belge to secure the overall title in Tournai.
The experienced Australian (RadioShack) kicked early and came around compatriot Chris Sutton (Team Sky) to take an emphatic win and his second stage of the race.
With bonus seconds on the line proving crucial neither Sutton nor overnight leader Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano) were able to finish inside the top three, meaning the 39-year-old reclaimed the yellow jersey in the final metres of the race.
Young Italian Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini) finished quickly to take second while Sebastien Chavanel (Europcar) snuck third on the line in the fourth consecutive bunch sprint of the race.
The final stage turned into a tactical battle, with a large number of riders covered by only a handful of seconds meaning there was a large fight for bonuses during the final laps of the day’s finishing circuit.
With other riders conspiring to soak up the bonifications the race came down to the final sprint; McEwen leapfrogging his rivals to the top step while Veelers and Sutton rounded out the podium five seconds back.
Nail-biting finale
With the race set to go down to the wire there was no surprise to see plenty of action in the early going as the 175.4-kilometre test from Mons to Tournai burst into life.
A number of groups moved clear, eventually combining to create an 11-man collective which featured riders from each of the top three teams on the GC.
Russell Downing infiltrated the move on behalf of Team Sky while Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) and stagiaire Evgeny Shalunov (RadioShack) made sure their squads were represented.
With the peloton happy to let the break go the riders worked together well to carve out a gap of over five minutes ahead of entry to the day’s pivotal finishing circuit.
Skil-Shimano and Cofidis put in the work to bring back the move which began to fracture as Shalunov attacked, six men eventually giving chase with the peloton bearing down.
Michael Rogers (Team Sky) put in a powerful turn to bridge across with just over two laps remaining in a bid to keep the move going and took three bonus seconds of his own at the penultimate sprint.
Things came back together as the riders hit the bell lap with Team Sky forced into policing a number of dangerous moves which threatened to go clear.
Yet at the line it would be McEwen who prospered on his training roads to take a well-deserved last-gasp victory.
