Boasson Hagen becomes a Tour of Britain hattrick hero (again)
Photo: www.tourofbritain.co.uk
For the second year running Edvald Boasson Hagen took victory in Stoke-on-Trent on Sept. 16, taking his third win of the 2009 Tour of Britain as he outsprinted Italian national champion Filippo Pozzato and home favourite Russell Downing to pull on the race leader’s Yellow Jersey for the first time ever.
Boasson Hagen (22) jumped at around 500 metres to go, crossing the line two bike lengths clear of Pozzato, and admitting afterwards in the press conference that he had watched his ’08 victory prior to the stage, refreshing his memory of the route into Hanley.
The bonus seconds for stage win number three edges the Team Columbia – HTC rider into yellow by nine seconds over previous race leader Kai Reus. Chris Sutton lies third at fourteen seconds, with Downing the top Briton in fifth overall.
Speaking afterwards Boasson Hagen said that victory in The Potteries in ’08 was his favourite win, but he was still very pleased with Wednesday’s victory, saying; “I’m really happy to win today after very hard work from the whole team. We tried to split the group but it came together again, so we decided to just work for the sprint.”
“The course today was very hard with the wind and up and down all day, but it was a nice course and actually I like the finish. It’s a nice finish, a little bit tricky but I like it,” said Boasson Hagen.
Read more on Tourofbritain.co.uk
