Boom takes overall win in Tour of Britain
Lars Boom has become the overall winner of the Tour of Britain. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s 31-year-old rider could keep up with a select leading group in the final stage. By doing so, he took the overall victory. Victor Campenaerts and Jos van Emden ended up fourth and sixth in the general classification. Sport director Jan Boven’s team was also first in the team standings.
The rainy final stage, which started in Worcester and finished in Cardiff, was spectacular. “It was even harder than yesterday’s stage”, overall winner Lars Boom stated afterwards. “Yesterday’s final was tough, but we had to ride attentively the whole day during this last stage. We had some difficult moments, but we managed to stay in front with four riders. Team Sky took the responsibility which was good for us. This way we could prepare ourselves for a tough final.”
In that final, Edvald Boasson Hagen attacked. “I couldn’t react at that moment”, Boom confessed. “Fortunately, he didn’t take too much space. So I could take the victory and I’m very happy about that.”
It was Boom's second overall win in the Tour of Britain. Previously, he was the best in the 2011 edition. The Dutchman already won three times this season. Thus far, Team LottoNL-Jumbo accumulated 24 victories this season.