Lars Boom defended his overall lead in the Eneco Tour and lost one of his most important rivals when Zdenek Stybar crashed out of the race. Happy to have avoided the tumble, the Dutchman says that he has never liked the finish in Ardooie.

Lars Boom maintained the Eneco Tour lead today in the fourth stage. The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM rider still holds a four-second lead over Giant-Shimano’s Tom Dumoulin after the stage finish in Ardooie, the Netherlands.

FDJ’s Nacer Bouhanni claimed the victory in the flat stage. The Frenchman out-sprinted Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) in a hectic bunch sprint. Boom placed safely in 26th.

“Quite easily we got through the final,” said Boom. “The boys did well by pulling at the front and reeling in the only remaining breakaway rider. That wasn’t a problem for us. In the final lap, it was still stressful because we were heading for a bunch sprint.”

A crash in the hectic sprint cost the Eneco Tour its defending champion. Zdenek Stybar of Omega Pharma-QuickStep had to abandon the race after heavy spill that happened right behind Boom.

“I haven’t seen a lot except for some flashes on television. It’s never pleasant to see someone crash so hard. Here in Ardooie, it’s always a big fight. Of course, the riders create dangerous situations themselves, but honestly, I have to say I don’t really like the final here.”
 

Sports Director Merijn Zeeman was satisfied about the team performance.

“We took our responsibility by chasing down the solo leader and also got in the mix for the bonus seconds. Sep Vanmarcke was supported well by the team and took some precious seconds.

“Lars and Sep miraculously avoided Stybar’s crash, although Sep still got hit by a bike. It landed on his arm. As a team, we regret that Stybar is not here anymore. We hope that he’s OK. This is not how you want the battle to be fought. "
 

The classic trilogy that will conclude the Eneco Tour kicks off tomorrow with a mini-version of the Tour of Flanders. After that the peloton will tackle stages similar to Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Amstel Gold Race.

“Those are the days of the truth,” said Zeeman. “For all three days we have riders who can handle the specific course. We’ll use those qualities. We have the leader’s jersey and want to hold on to it. We have several men in the overall, but so have some other teams. The battle is far from over, and it promises to be a very nice one.”