Team Barloworld 's Enrico Gasparotto won the overall of the Ster Elektrotoer (Netherlands) The Italian rider
managed to keep his 17 seconds lead over Tinkoff's Vasili Kiryienka thanks to a strong effort of his Barloworld
team.
Gasparotto is aiming for a second national title at the Italian National Championships next week and the Barloworld
rider seems to be in the right form to achieve one of his foals for the current season.
Mark Cavendish (Columbia) scored a strong bunch sprint win in the Ster Elektrotoer race when he romped home in first place
on the final stage. The Briton roared across the finish line a good two bike lengths clear at the end of the 150 kilometres
stage in Germert, Netherlands.
After 23 kilometres Mathew Hayman (Rabobank), Kasper Klostergaard (CSC), Arnoud van Groen (P3Transfer - Batavus) and
Joost van Leijen (Van Vliet - EBH Elshof) took off. The escapees managed to create a gap fro around four minutes but the sprinter
teams were determind to bring the bunch back and the break never really had a chance.
South African sprinter Robert Hunter (Barloworld) finished second in the close sprint, Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano)
came in third and Quickstep's Tom Boonen finished fourth.
"I went from a long way out, maybe 300 meters from the line." Cavendish said afterwards. "But I had the strength and I
just kept going and going. I could even put my hands in the air 15 or 20 meters ahead of the line because I could see I’d
won."
"It was a hard and quite dangerous finishing circuit, with a lot of narrow roads and some chicanes. But the team did a
really good job and kept me at the front and I was in the top ten when we got into the final kilometer."
"Then I made my move, and it worked out perfectly. It shows that I am exactly where I should be at this point in the season."
Cavendish’ next road-race is the British National Championships on Sunday 29th June, where he will be racing alongside
Columbia (High Road) team-mate Roger Hammond.
"This is our second victory in the Ster Elektotoer after Tony [Martin] won the prologue, and it’s always good to
see our young riders doing so well," added Columbia' sports director on the race, Tristan Hoffman.
"Both Mark and Tony did the Giro and they’re reaping the benefits here. They’ve recovered well from an exceptionally
tough edition of the Tour of Italy and have bounced back in time to be ready for the summer."
"The team was a real factor in Mark’s victory, too. They helped pull back a long break during the stage and kept
him in contention despite the technical finish. It was a great all-round effort and it paid off 100 percent."
