12 oktober 2011
- 16 oktober 2011
Herald Sun Tour
Koen took part in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in
Australia from the 12th to the 16th October.
After having taken a 24h flight from Paris to Australia on
Sunday evening, Koen had barley a day's rest before wednesday's
stage (Tuesday evening in Europe). Stage one took Koen and the
peloton a distance of 174.6km from Whittlesea to Ballarat. Koen was
paying attention when a leading group broke away and he joined the
14 others. The group fell apart in the finale of the race and with
Koen letting a group go as he was suffering the effects of the long
flight. Koen finished the stage in 8th place, 2'39" behind stage
winner Australian Phys Pollock. Pollock had broken away from his
five companions in the final kilometres. The peloton finished
10'24" from Pollock. Pollock finished just ahead of his five
companions with another five riders finishing within 8 minutes, and
as a result the top ten of stage one has a significant advantage
over the rest of the field in the general classification.
This represents a great chance for Koen to ride a good general
classification in the Sun Tour.
The stage from Ballarat to Geelong finished after 140.6
kilometres in a mass sprint that was won by South African Reinert
Janse van Rensburg. Koen was boxed in during the sprint to the line
and came 14th.
The third stage took the peloton from Geelong to Drysdale over a
distance of 172.6km and Koen's teammate Marcel Kittel was part of
the leading group when the peloton went to sprint in the streets of
Drysdale. Kittel was brought to the front of the race by his
teammates and he finished off their work to perfection. Koen sat up
to celebrate with 200m to go when it was clear that Kittel had won.
Koen crossed the line in 52nd place and continues to hold his 8th
place overall.
Saturday's stage proved a tough stage as the peloton took a
131.6km route from Sorrento to Arthurs Seat. While Arthurs Seat may
sound like a little stool, it is an actual mountain. Koen stayed
with the leading group for quite some time on the climb before
dropping off the pace and ending the stage 1'52" down in 38th
place. Russian Egor Silin from Katusha won the stage with an
advantage of 16 seconds over Australian Nathan Haas who took over
the lead in the general classification. Koen's teammate Yukihiro
Doi crossed the line in 6th place, 26 seconds down on Silin.
Koen dropped to 10th place in the general classification and is now
4'18" behind Haas. Koen will most likely keep this place in the
classification given that tomorrow's stage will conclude the race
with a short sprinter's stage in the streets of Melbourne. The
Skil-Shimano team will be working for their top sprinter Marcel
Kittel on the final day. Kittel was helped on Saturday's tough
stage to Arthurs Seat with two teammates.
The final stage of the race took place in Melbourne on Sunday
with a 61 kilometre criterium which ended as expected in a mass
sprint. The sprint was won by Marcel Kittel who took his second
stage win of the race. Koen crossed the line in 56th place, 54
seconds after Kittel after working for Kittel during the
stage.
Koen finished the Herald Sun Tour with 10th place in the general
classification.