Dylan Groenewegen has won the queen stage of the Tour of Britain. The 24-year-old rider defeated Caleb Ewan in the bunch sprint in Cheltenham.
Today’s stage was extremely wet. It was raining almost all day, which did not make it easier for the riders. Groenewegen saw teammate Boom race a strong course nevertheless.
“Lars is looking strong. They continued to attack him, but he countered every time.”
After the last climb of the day, it was Groenewegen’s time to shine. “I became second, third and fourth earlier. Winning today feels extra beautiful. The shape is getting better”, Groenewegen said.
Lars Boom saw from a distance how Groenewegen won the stage. “I even encouraged him through our communication”, he said afterwards. “It was a difficult day for me, but I have been able to defend the lead. My teammates had to work hard for it. The fact that Dylan makes all that hard work shine even more makes it a perfect day”, Boom said.
Tour of Britain 2017 – stage 7 results (Hemel Hemstead – Cheltenham):
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | 4:26:58 |
| 2 | Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) | ,, |
| 3 | Brenton Jones (JLT Condor) | ,, |
| 4 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 5 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 6 | Daniele Bennati (Movistar) | ,, |
| 7 | Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 8 | Nikolas Maes (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 9 | Floris Gerts (BMC) | ,, |
| 10 | Vincenzo Albanese (Bardiani CSF) | ,, |
General classification after stage 7:
| 1 | Lars Boom (LottoNl-Jumbo) | 26:37:28 |
| 2 | Victor Campenaerts (LottoNl-Jumbo) | +08” |
| 3 | Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) | +09” |
| 4 | Stefan Kung (BMC) | +10” |
| 5 | Jos Van Emden (LottoNl-Jumbo) | +13” |
| 6 | Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) | +14” |
| 7 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +19” |
| 8 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 9 | Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 10 | Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac) | +27” |
