Matti Breschel Danish Champion
[28.06 17:18] Twelve riders were representing Team Saxo Bank during today’s Danish national championships in the town of Sønderborg. André Steensen, Matti Breschel, Nicki Sørensen, Anders Lund, Kasper Klostergaard, Lasse Bøchman, Jakob Fuglsang, Frank Høj, Alex Rasmussen, Chris Anker Sørensen, Michael Mørkøv and Lars Bak were to ride the 196 kilometres by going ten large and ten small rounds of a circular route in the southern part of Denmark to defend Nicki Sørensen’s victory from last year.
And war took place near the Danish/German border from the very beginning of the race as a larger group with among others Matti Breschel, Alex Rasmussen, Frank Høj and André Steensen were represented. They managed to stay in the front until 128 kilometres where a trio of Jens-Erik Madsen (Capinordic), Kasper Schjønnemann (Team Concordia) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Team Saxo Bank) joined them prompting the group to 32 riders.
After 140 kilometres Thomas Just (Team Concordia) and René Jørgensen Designa Køkken) escaped from the front group which led it to break into several pieces but as among others several Team Saxo Bank-riders reached the duo they immediately increased the pace in the group and with 26 kilometres left of the race only ten riders were left in the front group. Five of them were Team Saxo Bank riders. Chris Anker Sørensen, Matti Breschel and Frank Høj said goodbye to the group shortly after arrival and left it with Brian Vandborg (Liquigas). Ten kilometres from the finish line the quartet had a 50 seconds lead which seemed to be enough to last. On the very last lap Matti Breschel and Chris Anker Sørensen launched a crucial attack which left Frank Høj alone with Brian Vandborg who had to chase the Team Saxo Bank duo single-handedly.
On the last hill Chris Anker Sørensen did what do best and tried to drop his team mate but Matti Breschel was simply to strong and on the finish line he put the icing on the cake after an impressive spring with numerous wins and today he made himself the Danish champion.
Danish national championships:
1. Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank)
2. Chris Anker Sørensen (Team Saxo Bank)
3. Frank Høj (Team Saxo Bank)
“Our plan was to make the race as hard as possible all the way through to the finish line. However, we did not expect the front group to last very long and Chris Anker Sørensen joined the leaders very late on the course. But of course I can only be happy to see three Team Saxo Bank riders on the podium. They did an amazing finale where Brian Vandborg loses due to the general tactical element of racing”, said a happy Dan Frost after the championships.
In both Norway and Sweden Team Saxo Bank riders won the national championships. Kurt-Asle Arvesen will be riding with the flag of Norway on his back during the Tour de France from next week after a ten kilometer solo ride.
In Sweden, Marcus Ljungqvist outsprinted Fredrik Ericsson in a very exciting finale.
In Luxembourg, Andy Schleck took over the national champion’s jersey from his big brother after a stunning solo performance.
Fabian Cancellara took the fifth championship of the day for Team Saxo Bank by crossing the line first in his home country of Switzerland.
File photo by: CorVos Pro
Categories: News
Tags:
BMC Working Well
Leave a Reply