Haedo Celebrated Contract Extension With a Victory
Juan José Haedo celebrated his three-year extension with Team CSC Saxo Bank by winning the final stage in Tour of Denmark ahead of teammate Matti Breschel.
The peloton reached the end of the 165-kilometer route from Slagelse to Frederiksberg together and after Haedo had helped Breschel a couple of times earlier in the race it was the other way round this time and the Argentinean took a very convincing eight victory this season. Only six riders – one of them teammate Fabian Cancellara – have more UCI-victories in 2008!
“The advantage of having two sprinters like Haedo and Matti are that you can plan as you go along, who’s strongest and today the right man for the job turned out to be JJ. It’s a great example of our team spirit,” said sports director Lars Michaelsen after the stage.
However in the general classification there was no hope for Team CSC Saxo Bank even though Lars Bak tried his best in a break with three others. It lasted until the very last lap in Frederiksberg, but during the final 20-30 kilometers it became clear that the four-some did not pose a threat to leader Jakob Fuglsang (Designa Køkken), who also ended up celebrating his brand new contract with Team CSC Saxo Bank with a victory in one of the biggest Danish sporting events of the year.
“Lars and the other three in the break actually managed to both split the riders from Designa Køkken and wear them out as well. He knew it was close to mission impossible but still he almost made it. Unfortunately Skil-Shimano and Glud & Marstrand Horsens also had an interest in catching the break so he had to give in at the end – but I gotta say he went down fighting,” were the praising words for Bak from Michaelsen.
Gustav Larsson, Matti Breschel, Michael Blaudzun and Jason McCartney all finished in the top-eight overall.
“Of course we would’ve preferred to win this one but we can’t be disappointed after four stage wins, a victory in the Point’s Competition for Matti as well as four guys in the top-eight,” concluded Lars Michaelsen.
Photo by: CorVos Pro
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