Friday, July 08, 2011

GreenBkk.com World Sport | Boasson Hagen claims first Tour stage win for Sky

Boasson Hagen claims first Tour stage win for Sky

July 7, 2011 -- Updated 1926 GMT (0326 HKT)


Edvald Boasson Hagen celebrates Team Sky's first ever Tour de France stage victory.

(CNN) -- Team Sky claimed their first ever Tour de France stage victory on Thursday when Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen won the 226.5km sixth stage from Dinan to Lisieux -- the longest of this year's race.

On a wet and windy day, Boasson Hagen edged ahead of Australian Matt Goss on the uphill drag to the finish, with compatriot Thor Hushovd taking third place.

That performance was enough for Hushovd to retain his race leader's yellow jersey by just a single second from Australian Cadel Evans, with Luxembourg's Frank Schleck four seconds adrift in third position overall.

In fact there were no significant changes in the overal classification, with the top 10 riders all finishing in the lead group, which consisted of 62 riders.

Defending champion Alberto Contador finished with the front group in 48th place and continues to move up the general classification after a dreadful start to the race.

The Spaniard is now up to 34th place overall, but remains one minute and 42 seconds off the pace and 1:30 behind main rival Andy Schleck.

It was also a famous day for Norwegian cycling, with the Scandinavian nation having two riders on the podium for the first time in their history.

Friday's seventh stage is a 218km ride over mainly flat terrain from Le Mans to Chateauroux, which is expected to favor the traditional sprinters like Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar, both of whom have already won a stage in this year's race.

Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)

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