Eneco Tour 2015 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE] (flemish)

August 16, 2015

Eneco Tour 2015 – Stage 7 – St.Pieters-Leeuw – Geraardsbergen : 193,8 km

This season sees the 11th edition of the Eneco Tour, after the cross-border race was inaugurated in 2005. The young Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) is the defending champion this season after a hugely impressive solo victory in Aywaille on the penultimate day of racing. Once again apart of the WorldTour series, the Eneco Tour begins with an out and back sprint stage in Bolsward, in the north of the Netherlands on Monday 10 August. Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep), Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) will all by vying for victory here.

Nearly a decade on from his only individual victory as a professional, Manuel Quinziato (BMC) returned to the scene of that triumph and made it two on the final stage of the Eneco Tour on Sunday. Meanwhile Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) didn’t take as long to double up as he crossed the line safely in the bunch to secure a second overall victory in two years.

Quinziato won a stage in the 2006 edition of the race and here on the hilly and cobbled terrain of Flanders, he attacked from a leading trio on the penultimate climb and managed to hold on to the finish line halfway up the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

Bjorn Leukemans (Wanty Groupe Gobert) and Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep) came home second and third respectively having had no reply to the Italian’s attack on the 700-metre long Denderoordberg, which has an average gradient of eight per cent. Quinziato knew he couldn’t leave it until the final climb and after stretching out his lead on the flat run in to Geraardsbergen he faded on the Muur to make it a nerve-wracking conclusion.

“I looked back with 500 metres to go and saw they were coming, and I thought either you win, or you die. And I won so I’m happy,” said a delighted Quinziato.

“I wasn’t supposed to be in the break but it was a really fast start. I was happy to end up in the break, there were 14 guys but we didn’t really believe could make it. I like the parcours, I was fourth two years ago here, I saw on the first [ascent of the] Muur I was feeling good, better than the other guys. Then I was with two strong guys, Leukemans and Lampaert.

“I’m 35, I’ve not won so many races, it doesn’t happen that often to feel good at the front of the break, so I thought no mistake, no regrets. I did exactly as I planned to do. I made a gap and the guys behind disappeared. I was flat out, thinking ‘don’t look back! Don’t look back!”

Wellens’ race has been almost a carbon copy of last year’s as he once again enjoyed a successful final-day defense of the race lead he picked up on stage 6. As was to be expected in Flanders, it was an aggressive day of racing but his white leader’s jersey was not truly threatened at any stage. Wellens had plenty of men with him at all times who were able to close gaps and bring back attackers with a modicum of fuss.

Second-placed Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) sprinted from the bunch for fourth on the day but by that stage Wellens’ victory was in the bag and he finished the race with a 59-second lead over his compatriot, with Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) third overall at 1:17.

How it unfolded

The 188.6-kilometre route from St.Pieters-Leeuw to Geraardsbergen would feature two laps of a 25-kilometre finishing circuit, with two full ascents of the Muur Van Geraardsbergen and the finish line halfway up on the third time of asking.

In between were several short cobbled climbs like the Bosberg and the Denderoordberg and with such a parcours it was no surprise to see many men keen to make it into the breakaway. 14 riders did so but they failed to build a significant advantage and the game was up for most of them when they hit the Muur for the first time.

That blew the group to pieces and from it emerged Quinziato, Lampaert, and Leukemans, a trio that would stay away for the rest of the day. Arnaud Démare and Michael Valgren were the aggressors in the bunch and soon there were multiple chase groups on the road, which eventually became one of about 10 riders. That included Simon Geschke and George Preidler (Giant-Alpecin), Dries Devenyns (IAM), Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx), Gijs Van Hoecke (Topsport), Roy Jans (Wanty), Johnny Hoogerland (Rompoot), and Rudiger Selig (Katusha).

While the make-up of the chasing pack chopped and changed over the final lap, what stayed constant was the leading trio’s advantage of just under a minute. In any case, André Greipel and the other Lotto-Soudal henchman were slowly but surely pegging the chasers back and made the catch with just over 10 kilometres to go. There were attacks off the front once more from Simon Spilak (Katusha) and others but the men in red shut them down with ease.

With a lead of over a minute, it was looking good for the trio and thoughts soon turned to tactics. Quinziato, the weakest climber of the three, could not afford to wait for the Muur, and his attack came just shy of the summit of the Denderoordberg. Lampaert lost contact immediately and it looked like Leukemans might just hang on but he too fell away as Quinziato used his power on the flat.

The Italian soon had half a minute and the result was in the bag, but not before a nervy final ascent of the Muur. The two Belgians hit the cobbles and immediately started to gain on Quinziato, who had them breathing down his neck around the final corner. In the end he won it by just seven seconds but it proved he had timed it to perfection.

Results :
1 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 4:18:18
2 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:00:03
3 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step 0:00:08
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:38
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick Step
6 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:40
7 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre – Merida
8 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:42
9 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
10 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge
11 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant – Alpecin
12 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
13 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant – Alpecin
14 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
15 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
16 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
17 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
18 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha
20 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick Step
21 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin
22 Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
23 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:48
24 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant – Alpecin
25 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling
26 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 0:00:53
27 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida
28 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida
29 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant – Alpecin
30 Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo
31 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
32 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
33 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
34 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
35 Jasha S¸tterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
36 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
37 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
38 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:01:00
39 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:01:01
40 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
41 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
42 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
43 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step
44 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin
45 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
46 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha
47 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:08
48 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:01:10
49 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:13
50 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step
51 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing
52 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:19
53 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
54 JÈrÙme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:01:24
55 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick Step 0:01:28
56 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step
57 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:45
58 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:04
59 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:03:06
60 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
61 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
62 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
63 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
64 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:03:32
65 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
66 Tim Kerkhof (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
67 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
68 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Team Cannondale – Garmin
69 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ
70 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ 0:03:40
71 AndrÈ Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:03:53
72 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
73 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:04:04
74 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:04:32
75 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant – Alpecin
76 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:07:12
77 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:08:21
78 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Cannondale – Garmin
79 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
80 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling
81 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
82 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Team Katusha
83 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling
84 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team
85 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
86 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge
87 Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky
88 Juan Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team
89 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick Step
90 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
91 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
92 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
93 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
94 Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
95 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:08:27
96 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:08:32
97 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida
98 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Team Cannondale – Garmin
99 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida
100 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
101 SÈbastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
102 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
103 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:17:51
104 AndrÈ Looij (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton
105 Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
106 Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
107 Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky
108 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:18:06
109 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:18:08
DNF Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF CÈdric Pineau (Fra) FDJ
DNF Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team
DNF Dayer Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Team Cannondale – Garmin
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Team Cannondale – Garmin
DNF David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling
DNF Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Soudal
DNF Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Danny van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky
DNF Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
DNF Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
DNF Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Lampre – Merida
DNF Adam Blythe (GBr) Orica GreenEdge
DNS Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant – Alpecin
DNS Huub Duijn (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton

Final General Classification :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 26:31:59
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:59
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:17
4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:40
5 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:48
6 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:01:54
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:02:02
8 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:11
9 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
10 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx – Quick Step
11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:13
12 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin 0:02:16
13 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:52
14 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:05:06
15 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:05:08
16 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:05:13
17 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:05:21
18 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:05:47
19 Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:05:50
20 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:06:04
21 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:30
22 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 0:06:51
24 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ 0:07:25
25 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:07:28
26 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:07:31
27 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:07:37
28 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:08:36
29 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin 0:09:25
30 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:09:43
31 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:10:13
32 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:10:58
33 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:11:17
34 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:12:12
35 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:12:45
36 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:12:54
37 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:12:59
38 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:13:14
39 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 0:13:40
40 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:13:46
41 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ 0:15:59
42 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:16:43
43 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:16:44
44 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick Step 0:17:29
45 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:17:45
46 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:19:56
47 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step 0:20:34
48 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team 0:21:35
49 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:21:57
50 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky 0:22:07
51 JÈrÙme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:22:21
52 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step 0:22:49
53 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:22:51
54 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:24:16
55 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 0:24:19
56 Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 0:25:15
57 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:27:13
58 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:27:51
59 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:28:10
60 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:28:42
61 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge 0:29:21
62 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick Step 0:29:29
63 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:29:38
64 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:30:05
65 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step 0:30:07
66 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick Step 0:30:37
67 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:32:29
68 AndrÈ Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:32:53
69 Juan Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team 0:33:03
70 Tim Kerkhof (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:33:39
71 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:33:47
72 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:35:30
73 Jasha S¸tterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:36:01
74 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 0:36:05
75 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:36:08
76 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:37:23
77 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:37:27
78 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:38:57
79 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:39:14
80 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:39:31
81 Nathan Earle (Aus) Team Sky 0:39:47
82 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:41:19
83 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:41:38
84 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:41:45
85 SÈbastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:41:51
86 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:42:55
87 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:42:59
88 Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:43:22
89 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ 0:43:54
90 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:43:58
91 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Cannondale – Garmin 0:44:44
92 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Team Cannondale – Garmin 0:44:55
93 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:44:57
94 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:45:02
95 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant – Alpecin 0:45:10
96 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick Step 0:45:12
97 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha 0:45:17
98 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge 0:49:03
99 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Team Cannondale – Garmin 0:49:43
100 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale 0:49:49
101 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:50:18
102 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Team Katusha 0:50:29
103 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:51:16
104 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:51:29
105 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 0:52:48
106 Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:53:16
107 Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:55:03
108 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:58:52
109 AndrÈ Looij (Ned) Roompot Oranje Peloton 1:00:08