Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen has taken his first win of the season, and the fourth victory for Team Sky, with a convincing sprint finish at yesterday’s leg of the Volta ao Algarve (Tour of the Algarve). The win, a bike length ahead of Kris Boeckmans (Team Vacansoleil) and with Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Gerald Ciolek in third, puts Boasson Hagen in overall lead at 8:59:30.
Speaking after his Stage 2 victory, Boasson Hagen said: ‘I’m really happy and it’s always nice to get your first victory of the season. The team did a good job to keep me up front with 1k to go so I didn’t have to spend too much energy before that. Then it was just about staying on the wheel of the Quickstep train. It was quite easy to stay up there and wait until the last 200 metres and then I went. It was a goal for me to try and get a victory here. Yesterday I was a bit surprised how quickly we came to the line. I was a bit frustrated so it was really nice to get the win and the race lead.’
The Tour continues through to February 19.
