Tom Boonen defeated Andre Greipel to claim an overall victory at the World Ports Classics by a whisker
Tom Boonen managed to defend his overall lead during the second stage of the World Ports Classics and filled his bag with an important victory at the race.
He had Andre Greipel and Alexander Kristoff within the distance of 6 seconds after the first stage but the lead proves to be ample after he finished third during the second and the last stage of the contest.
Theo Bos of Team Rabobank claimed the top position after he completed the 161.5 kilometre chase to Rotterdam in a cumulative time 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Andre Greipel of Team Lotto Belisol did well to finish ahead of Boonen at the second spot and the German almost thought his effort had earned him an overall victory.
Greipel was disappointed to learn that he fell 1 second short of his Belgian opponent and Tom was announced as an overall winner of the contest.
Andre Greipel of Team Lotto Belisol and Jaroslaw Marycz of Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank claimed the first and the second sprints of the race in the respective order.
Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha, Adam Blythe of Team BMC, Marco Benfatto of Team Liquigas-Cannondale, Adrien Petit of Team Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne and Steele Von Hoff of Team Garmin-Sharp were the top five young riders on the day.
Boonen grabbed 47 important UCI points and claimed the points classifications while his German rival Greipel finished at the second spot with the same number of points.
Alexander Kristoff, Theo Bos, Steele Von Hoff, Guillaume Boivin, Mark Renshaw and Blaz Jarc occupied the next six positions with 39, 25, 25, 21, 18 and 18 points respectively.
Top ten cyclists after the World Ports Classics final classifications is as under,
1
Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
7:26:47
2
André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
0:00:01
3
Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
0:00:11
4
Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos - Shimano
0:00:13
5
Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
0:00:14
6
Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin - Sharp
0:00:16
7
Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
8
Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
9
Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
10
Benjamin Verraes (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
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