Boasson Hagen third, retains leader’s jersey
Last year’s world under 23 road race championship runner-up John Degenkolb provided further proof that he’s set for a successful pro career when he triumphed on today’s second stage of the Bayern Rundfarht.
The HTC Highroad rider followed up on his recent win in the recent Rund um dn Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt by beating Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) to the line in Bad Gogging. A total of 99 riders finished in the same time and yesterday’s stage victor Boasson Hagen retained his leader’s jersey.
“I have said in advance that this race means to me a lot because Bavaria is also my home,” he said afterwards. “I am very happy and really want to say thanks to my teammates, because they rode really well.
“After Frankfurt this is my greatest victory, because this is a high quality competition at the start and so you have to regard the victory as important.”
Directeur sportif Jan Schaffrath underlined the importance of the result. “It’s a great victory for John, just in his first year as a pro. And to take a stage win in Germany’s biggest stage race is very important for a local rider,” he stated. “He’s always very motivated but today on home soil he was giving it more than 100 percent.”
The stage featured the inevitable long distance break. Today’s adventurers were NSP rider Markus Eichler, Gatis Smukulis (HTC-Highroad) and Matthias Bertling (Team Eddy Merckx Indeland), who clipped away in the first 20 kilometres. Eichler became race leader on the road, but cracked towards the end. He was caught first, then the other two succumbed to the chase 175 kilometres in.
Smukulis was in a determined mood and he fired off another attack. He was however caught by Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Dimitri Claeys (NetApp), who themselves were hauled back very close to the line. A big bunch sprint followed, and Degenkolb’s victory.
“John was ready to go for the bunch sprint,” said Schaffrath. “We’d told him yesterday that he had to stay close to the front and he was exactly in the right position to go for it when it mattered.”
Boasson Hagen would have liked to win, but saw the bright side. “The most important thing is that I’m further ahead and I will continue to try everything, but we have also lost two riders. Therefore, it becomes more difficult, but we will keep fighting.”
Both Serge Pauwels and Michael Rogers packed the race today due to stomach issues. The Bayern Rundfaht continues tomorrow with a tough 180.8 kilometre stage from Bad Gögging to Aichach. It runs until Sunday.