bicycle.net -- cycling news, product reviews, original essays, podcasts & video :: Tour of California 2009

San Luis Obispo, CA, 13 September 2008 - Team Columbia’s Edvald Boasson Hagen won his third stage at the Tour of Britain on Saturday with yet another unbeatable powerful sprint finish.

The 21 year-old Norwegian won stage four to Stoke-on-Trent in the Midlands on Wednesday and stage five to Dalby Forest in the Yorkshire moors on Thursday. He was in the key break on both stages and again made sure he was in the eight-rider breakaway that dominated the 153km stage through the spectacular Scottish lowlands.

Team Columbia’s hard working Kiwi Greg Henderson was also in the move and the two combined perfectly in the finale of the stage. Henderson rode hard to make sure the break opened a decisive gap on the main peloton and then chased down the late attacks before the finish. Boasson Hagen was last in the line of eight riders with five hundred metres to go but accelerated hard up the finishing straight to win by three bike lengths with his arms in the air. His third stage victory also gave him the lead in the points competition and so he pulled on the special Tour of Britain green jersey. Australia’s Matt Goss was second in the sprint and Daryl Impey of South Africa was third.

Boasson Hagen is in his first full season as a professional but has now won seven races. He won stage three at the Criterium International, the prestigious GP Denain one-day race, the Norwegian national time trial title and a stage in the recent Eneco Tour ProTour stage race.

He clearly likes collecting multiple stage wins in races, having won three stages in the 2006 Tour de L’Avenir as an amateur and four stages and overall success in the Ringerike GP in 2007.

“I’ve won multiple stages before but this is my best race,” Boasson Hagen said with a smile.

“It was a hard stage, up and down all day and never really easy. I was hoping to get the points jersey as well today and so it’s been a good day for me and Team Columbia.”

“It’s great to win for a third time. Everybody in the team is really happy. There was some really good team work early on and Greg was great in the break, he really helped me. I have to say a big thanks to him.”

“Julian Dean started the sprint early and I was at the back of the line with 500 meters to go but I started to accelerated and I got a gap, nobody followed and I won again.”

Frenchman Geoffroy Lequatre kept the overall race lead in the Tour of Britain before Sunday’s final stage from Blackpool to Liverpool. The final stage ends with six laps of a city center circuit and is expected to end in a sprint, meaning Boasson Hagen could win yet again.