Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) continued his great start to the second half of the season by riding to a dominant win in the biggest British one-day race, RideLondon Classic. After a great solo ride by Geraint Thomas (Sky) was neutralized by Orica-BikeExchange and Boonen’s Etixx-QuickStep teammates, the Belgian freelanced in the sprint and was lucky to find the gap that allowed him to power past Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) and Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchanage) who had to settle for the minor spots on the podium.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Triumphant Tom Boonen: I was dropped twice

Napoleon Bonaparte once said that "great ambition is the passion of great a character" and if there's a rider in the current peloton who can be seen as the epitome of these words, that's Tom Boonen. The Belgian proved again that age is just a number, passion and ambition being the quintessential factors that drive a rider in his permanent quest for victories and strong results, as he won the most important one-day race in the United Kingdon, RideLondon Classic (202 kilometers), which took place on Sunday.

 

It was for the first time in three years that the event came down to a bunch sprint, but this happened only after Etixx – Quick-Step and Orica-BikeExchange worked hard at the forefront in order to peg back the seven riders up the road, who at one point enjoyed a four-minute gap. Team Sky had the numbers in the group, with Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas, and tried to take advantage of that, as the Welshman attacked with more than 50 kilometers to go and left his fellow escapees in the dust, building an advantage which looked to be insurmountable.

 

But the energy spent by the Etixx – Quick-Step riders at the head of the bunch paid off, as all the seven breakaway riders were pulled back, Thomas being the last one to wave the flag inside the final five kilometers. Protected by his teammates, who nullified a late move of Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF), Tom Boonen found a breach at the front through which he powered away in the closing 250 meters, beating Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) and Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange) by more than a bike length.

 

"I am very happy. It was a hard race, as everyone was going bananas all day long. Everyone was fighting for every metre of the road. I was dropped twice, punctured once and suffered as I chased the pack, but managed to return to the main group every time. It was only with about 50 kilometers to go that we started to pull behind the break and it finally came back together with 5 kilometers left", said 35-year-old Boonen, who praised his teammates for their fantastic effort. "The guys got well-organized going into the last corner and I could launch my sprint from the right side of the road. I'm very happy with how things went and with getting this victory in front of the British fans, who were great as always.

 

“I'm really happy to win. It’s 10 years since I’ve won in London.

 

“It was only with about 35 to 40km to go that we started to pull back the break and it finally came back together with 5km left.

 

“Then the team got well organised going into the final corner and I was really happy with my sprint.

 

“My team did an incredible job to close it down and get me ready for the sprint. I waited for the perfect moment and I had the legs to finish it off.”

 

Sunday's victory on The Mall – his second in the space of just a week – capped off a great July for Etixx – Quick-Step, the second month of the summer witnessing seven wins of the team, in the Tour de France, Tour de Pologne, Tour de Wallonie and RideLondon Classic.

 

Mark Renshaw: I made a human error

Mark Renshaw was able to net another good result for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka by finishing a close 2nd. With 45km to go, Thomas attacked the break as the peloton was trying to get organised some 3-minutes behind. The African Team were able to regroup in the peloton and proceeded to combine well with Orica-BikeExchange and Etixx-Quickstep in leading the chase. Nic Dougall was the rider doing some good work at this point in the race.

 

As the remnants of the chase were caught with around 9km to go, Thomas had 30″ to play with but today, it would prove to be too little. A 70 rider peloton came charging through Trafalgar Square and a sprint finish would decide the race. The African Team had Tyler Farrar, Jay Thomson and Matt Brammeier helping to position Renshaw for the final before he found the wheel of Matthews in the final kilometer.

 

Renshaw was able to come off the wheel of Matthews and launched a powerful sprint in pursuit of victory. Boonen was the rider who got the timing just right though as he was able to come passed Renshaw in the final 30 meters of the race to take a good win. Renshaw followed the Belgian home to take an excellent 2nd place for the African Team.

 

He said:

 

“The race was really fast from the start. Team Sky set a hard tempo all day, of course setting it up for Geraint Thomas to attack. We missed that move and 20 guys got away so we were quite lucky to come back into the race there. With a few a sprint teams working to make it a sprint, like Orica and Etixx, we were quite fortunate to come back into it for the sprint as well.

 

”In the final 5km Tyler Farrar helped me a lot, he put me in the perfect position for the final. I started my sprint from 200 meters and as soon as I moved Tom Boonen came through with much more speed. There was no chance really to beat him, once I opened the door next to the barrier for him. I am happy with 2nd though as it’s the first race back after the Tour. 

 

“At 200m to go I decided to make my move and it seemed like I’d got it. But I made a human error and moved off the barriers and that’s when Tom came through.”

 

Michael Matthews: I didn’t have the legs

Tour de France stage winner Micheal Matthews produced another classy sprint today to finish third in the bunch sprint which concluded the 2016 edition of thePrudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic.

 

ORICA-BikeExchange worked hard together in the final part of the race to reel in the escapees and set Matthews up for sprint finish.

 

In the end it was Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quickstep) that proved to be the quickest, stealing the victory ahead of Mark Renshaw (Team Dimension-Data) and Matthews. 

 

"It was abit of a chaotic race," explained sport director Matt Wilson at the finish. "Our guys rode amazingly, they started chasing around 60kilometres from the finish and it was touch and go whether it would be possible to catch them.

 

"Hats off to Team Sky they had an awesome ride. They really surprised everyone and they took the race by the scruff of the neck.

 

"Our team all committed 100 percent today, they all thought it was worth the chase and really went for it and luckily we caught them in the last few kilometre."

 

As the riders passed through Admiralty Arch with a just a few hundred metres to go, the sprint opened up all across the road, with Matthews tight on the right hand side barrelling towards the line.

 

"Michael was a little bit too far forward," continued Wilson. "When your a bit too far forward you react to guys jumping past you and once they get a gap with 200metres to go it's hard to bring it back.

 

"We are really happy to get on to the podium especially when at 50kilometres to go it looked like the race was all over." 

 

“I would have liked to go with ‘G’ [Geraint Thoma] to mix it up but I just didn’t have the legs today, I worked hard to get back in touch and in the end it was a great job. I hope to come back with better legs next time,” Matthews said.

 

Jaroslaw Marycz surprises in big sprint in London

After 5th place claimed by Davide Rebellin at Rad am Ring, Jarosław Marycz delivered the same result at the HC race, RideLondon Classic. He showcased some outstanding sprinting skills, finishing only behind some sprint specialists. Hemade sure to sit on the right wheel and put in a lot of effort to position himself for the final sprint on a wide, straight road. Even though he is not known for his sprinting skills, he managed to finish just behind the specialists in such battles.

 

”I felt good throughout the entire race and I wanted to stay at the head of the bunch. I entered the final kilometer at the front of the group and I just wanted to keep that position. That resulted in 5th place, which gives me a lot of satisfaction, especially if you take under consideration the race’s category and the quality of the riders here. I wasn’t surprised with me performance, since I’ve finished among the fastest in my career a few times and I had known that I’m capable of claiming a top 10 spot,” said Jarosław Marycz afterwards.

 

Jempy Drucker: I just tried to defend my title as hard as possible

The defending champion, Jempy Drucker, was part of the day’s successful breakaway which was able to gain an advantage early in the race of 3 minutes 50 seconds. However their lead was not to extend any further as the race was put on pause after just 53 kilometers due to an earlier incident in the sportive event.

 

As the racing resumed, the gap to the breakaway started to come down as the pace being set behind them saw the peloton split and four riders make it off the front to join them heading into the final 65 kilometers of the day.

 

When the breakaway headed onto Box Hill, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) went on the attack in what looked like a winning move. Drucker, who was rewarded with the title of King of Mountains after his day at the front of the race, and the remaining breakaway riders were eventually reeled in before the peloton caught Thomas in the heart of London with just five kilometers to go.

 

With 500 meters to go the bunch sprint was inevitable with Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) ultimately taking victory and BMC Racing Team’s Floris Gerts showing he still had something extra in the legs to cross the line seventh. 

 

BMC sports Director Max Sciandri said: 

 

“Right from the beginning of the race we knew that we needed to be on the offensive as there were a lot of strong sprinters racing. With teams of six it is a little bit harder to control the race but everyone was really active today. After Box Hill when the peloton knew there was only 50 kilometers of flat road into London, that’t definitely when the sprinter’s teams took some time to see who was there and start to organize themselves for the chase. At the end of the day, I’m happy with how everyone rode! We had a strong rider with Jempy in the break but at the end the run in was just a bit too fast for us to try and attack.”

 

Floris Gerts said: 

 

“To say it was chaotic at the end there would be an understatement. Our job was really to go out there and make it a hard race, like we did last year, and I think Jempy did a really good race riding aggressively right from the start of the race. When the race came back together right at the end my legs were feeling good and I thought it would be good to try something. As a team we obviously wanted to win but in the end I am happy with my performance and the whole team rode well.”

 

Jempy Drucker said: 

 

“It wasn’t necessarily the plan for me to go into the breakaway so early on but I went with the move and it was working pretty well, we almost made it to finish. With only six riders in a team you never know what way the race will end so it was actually quite a good thing to be up there and not having to fight for position. We tried our best to give it a go and stay up in front. I was feeling good in the break and for my first race after a bit of a break from racing and some solid training, I’m going to go into my upcoming races with a lot of confidence.

 

“It was a pretty hard day to be honest and I went in the early breakaway which wasn’t actually the plan, but I tried to give it a go and defend my title as hard as possible. The only way we could get to the finish was with these guys [Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard], it’s just a real pity that things didn’t work out in the end.

 

“Overall though I enjoyed my experience again in London and the crowds like last year were amazing, so I’ll hopefully be back to ride again next year.”

 

Excellent performance by Madison Genesis at RideLondon Classic

Eighth for Tobyn Horton and a day in the break for Matt Holmes sealed a memorable Ride London for Madison Genesis.

 

Horton broke the top ten in a sprint to the line that had looked unlikely just moments earlier, due to the strength of a breakaway which included Matt Holmes.

 

Holmes’ ride also made him joint winner for the king of the mountains title in World Tour company.

At one stage Holmes’ group held a maximum of four minutes, however the peloton worked to limit the advantage of the lead group of six, halving their gap.

 

As the race approached the first of three times up Ranmore common, Holmes’ group was reduced to four men as the pace took its toll.

 

Behind, meanwhile Team Sky were defining the race with a furry of attacks. The result thinned the peloton to just 25 riders – including Tom Stewart - while Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard moved off the front.

 

By the final ascent of Ranmore Common Thomas, Stannard and Patrick Bevin joined Holmes and his original three companions – Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal), Jonatan Lastra (Caja Rural) and 2015 winner Jempy Drucker (BMC) to make a formidable lead group.

 

Reaching Box Hill and with 50-kilometres left, Team Sky again took control of the race, Geraint Thomas launching what looked to be the race-winning move.

 

For a moment, Holmes was distanced from the group, but he re-joined with the ambition of racing down The Mall for a podium position.

 

But behind, the peloton had regrouped and their swell in numbers and organisation resulted in a furious chase that would bring the race back together.

 

Erick Rowsell and Alex Blain were amongst those bringing Horton to the finishing straight and the man from Guernsey delivered, placing as top British rider in the race won by Belguim’s Tom Boonen.

 

Steele Von Hoff in the top 10 at RideLondon Classic

Moving into position almost immediately, Team Sky took control of the peloton just as ONE’s Yanto Barker and Joshua Hunt were involved in two separate and nasty crashes. The first one causing Barker to retire, Joshua Hunt however battled on, receiving a lot of attention from the medical car to dress open wounds. In an impressive solo effort, Hunt regained the peloton which had increased the tempo during the chase of the leading breakaway.

 

On the second gruelling effort over Ranmore Common, Team Sky further increased the tempo, managing to force a break of 3 chasing riders Gerraint Thomas & Ian Stannard (Sky) and Patrick Bevin (Cannondale). As they surged off the front of the peloton to pursue the lead pack of 6, the reaction in the peloton caused a large split with 22 riders forcing the pace including Karol Domagalski.

 

As Karol Domagalski worked hard on the front of the peloton, the dream finish of 1st and 2nd for Sky wasn’t to come into fruition as they were swallowed up by a raging peloton and everything came back together with just 5km to go.

 

Racing under the 1km to go banner, Steele Von Hoff was positioned well as the peloton made the final left turn up The Mall, with only 600 meters to the finish line. With sprints forming on both sides of the road Von Hoff found himself on the left, crossing the line in 9th position after a great effort.

 

Next up, a busy schedule for the team will see one squad in America racing in the Tour of Utah from Monday 1st August – Sunday 7th, while a second group will race in Spain at the Vuelta a Burgos from Tuesday 2nd – Sunday 6th. 

 

Roompot just outside the top 10 in London

Michel Kreder was the best placed rider for Roompot -Orange Peloton in 11th.

 

After a daring solo attempt by Thomas, and a counterattack by Huub Duijn, it came down to the expected sprint. Michel Kreder seemed to mix it up with the fastest, but had to brake in the finale. The Dutchman had to settle for 11th place. Tim Kerkhof ended as 22nd and Huub Duijn was 25th. Marc de Maar finished his first serious race after a lengthy knee injury and was also in the first large group.

 

Caja Rural youngster shows himself in London

Jonathan Lastra did extremely well in RideLondon Classic, where he joined the early break. Despite this being the young Spaniard’s first season as professional, Lastra still managed to out-power his breakaway companions to win the points classification. Miguel Ángel Benito finished as best Caja Rural - Seguros RGA rider in 20th place.

Jonathan Lastra said: 

 

“I felt good today but it was really hard to make it into the break. It took us almost 30km before we got away. While in the break, I just wanted to enjoy it because I knew it would be almost impossible for us to make it all the way. I tried to go for all the KOM and intermediate sprints and I’m very happy I ended up winning the points classification.

 

“I was very happy to have won the sprints. The atmosphere was incredible in every corner of every town there was a fantastic atmosphere. I’ve not seen so many people in so many places and I’d love to return to Great Britain to have another go.”

 

Geraint Thomas: I bought my ticket and just had to bite the bullet

Geraint Thomas came within five kilometres of sealing a famous win at the RideLondon - Surrey Classic after a brave solo effort.

 

The Welshman lit up the 200km one-day race with two scintillating attacks, first distancing the peloton in Surrey, before leaving the breakaway for dead on Box Hill.

 

Thomas forged a strong lead on his former breakaway companions but as the kilometres ticked down, the peloton organised itself and his gap got smaller and smaller on the run-in to London before he was caught on the Embankment, just 5km away from the finish on The Mall.

 

The sprint teams then did battle, with Tom Boonen (Etixx - Quick-Step) emerging victorious ahead of Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data).

 

Team Sky had blown the race apart on the third categorised climb of the day, up towards Ranmore Common, with Chris Froome setting Thomas up for a powerful attack.

 

Ian Stannard was then able to bridge across to the Welshman and the pair set off in pursuit of the breakaway, making light work of the gap.

 

Then, when the seven-man group hit Box Hill - the last climb of the day, 50km from the finish - Stannard hit his afterburners, before Thomas then attacked when the group had brought his team-mate back.

 

Speaking after the stage, Thomas said it was the team's intention to take control in the hills, but he may have gone just a little too early:

 

"We wanted to race hard so when Stannard and I went across to the group it was all good. At Box Hill I wanted to test everyone and maybe get rid of a few people but I ended up on my own! It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing but I'd bought my ticket then and I just had to bite the bullet and go.

 

"I could have done with somebody to give me a breather. Everything started to go towards the end - my back, my legs. I was always going to be up against with a lot of strong teams behind, but that's the pro peloton for you. When they ride hard for a sprint you've got to be super strong to hold them off.

 

”Unfortunately I was caught with five kilometres to go. I knew I was always going to be up against it with a lot of strong teams behind me.

 

"Maybe if I'd have stayed with the group and gone 25km out, rather than 50km, then I might have had more of a chance! But it was great to race here in the UK again. The last time for me was the Tour de France in 2014, and before that the Tour of Britain in 2011. Hopefully I’ll be back again next year.”

 

Chris Froome: It was a great little opener before Rio

“It was amazing what G did today. The plan was always to get him and Ian Stannard up the road and we were hoping it was going to stick,” Chris Froome said.

 

“I was really hoping he could go all the way today and it looked as if he would do it. But in the end the teams got themselves into a good chase and unfortunately for us it all came to nothing.

 

“It was an amazing atmosphere on the road today, even compared to the Tour de France. The roads were just jammed. I felt good and it was a great little opener for me before Rio.

 

“Prudential RideLondon is a great event. It’s fantastic getting people to come out on the same roads as us in the morning. It shows how far the sport has come in Britain.”

 

Race director exlains 25-minute pause during RideLondon Classic

Race director Mick Bennett explained the 25-minute pause after 47km:

 

“We erred on the side of caution in the interest of the safety of the public and riders in the sportive and paused the race.

 

“At that point, the breakaway group of six had a gap of 3:55. I spoke to the team managers prior to the pause, who were able to speak to the riders through their earpieces. After we stopped, I talked to the team leaders.

 

“All the riders and teams were fine with it and in total agreement. This is pro racing. It happens. There was a great atmosphere.

 

“The race was paused for 24-25 minutes. I gave the riders a 4-minute and 2-minute whistle. The breakaway group went and then the peloton went 3:55 later.”