Tom Boonen completed the first step of his comeback since his crash at the Tour of Flanders.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Andrew Fenn finished 14th in the final, 171km stage of Tour de Picardie on Sunday. The third stage regrouped well before the finish, but the GC was very much up for grabs as Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) led the overall going into the stage, with Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) just behind with the same time.
Coquard took the sprint bonus during the stage, putting more pressure on Kittel for the stage win.
Kittel won the third bunch sprint in the three-day stage race, also taking the overall. Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) was 2nd, Danny Van Poppel (Vacansoleil-DCM) 3rd.
Fenn’s teammate, Tom Boonen, completed the French three days stage race, which was very productive for his fitness as he continues on the comeback trail since Ronde van Vlaanderen crash.
"These three days at Tour de Picardie were better than I was expecting," Boonen said. "Of course the condition is not super, but I made a lot of progress in my fitness already and I had no pain in my hip or in my back. I had pain in the area of my neck, but I think it's kind of compensation due to the posture I had to maintain in the last weeks. The back and the hip didn't hurt, so I'm pretty happy. Now it's only a matter of training with the right continuity and intensity to be ready for the next appointments."
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