Team mate Robert Gesink Holds onto Second Place in G.C.

Rabobank rider Lars Boom, the 2008 World Cyclocross champion, has added a Grand Tour win to the list of accomplishments in his young career. The 23-year old soloed across the finish line far ahead of everyone else in Stage 15 of the 2009 Vuelta a España. His victory gives the Rabobank team its first stage win of the Tour.

The 167-kilometer stage from Jaen to Cordoba was for the most part a recovery day for the GC leaders; the result of the difficult three days spent climbing the mountains of southeastern Spain.

But a breakaway of 13, containing Boom, stole away at 66 km into the race. None of the group was a threat to the GC—the closest rider was more than an hour behind leader Alejandro Valverde—so the break quickly gained time on the peloton. With 34km to the finish line, the break had nearly 20 minutes advantage.

With 24km to go, Boom and three other riders jumped. The Dutchman set a furious pace, powering the pedals on his super light and super stiff Giant TCR Advanced SL bicycle. “When I went for it, I accelerated as hard as possible to try and make the other guys suffer as much as possible,” Boom told Giant later. “The group had already shrunk to four just beforehand when another rider attacked, and then I made sure to continue for as long and as hard as possible.”

He quickly shed all the riders on the second of two trips up the Alto de San Jeronimo. Repeated attempts to catch him failed, and Boom eventually soloed across the line for the win, 1:36 ahead of second place finisher David Herrero of Xacobeo-Galicia. “My form’s been getting better and better over the last two weeks,” Boom said, “and my big objective was to get in a break and see if I could get a victory, and now I’ve managed to do that.”

The main peloton came in 25 minutes after Boom. His team-mate, Robert Gesink, held onto his 2nd place ranking in the GC, staying 31 seconds behind overall leader Alejandro Valverde. Asked if his team-mate could still win the Tour of Spain, Boom said, “I’m sure he’ll give it everything to see if he can. It’s hard. Valverde is very strong right now, but he’ll try every time there’s a chance.”

RABOBANK’S KAI REUS LEADS THE TOUR OF BRITAIN
Another Rabobank rider is leading the Tour of Britain, which has completed three of eight stages. Dutch racer Kai Reus claimed the lead after winning stage 2. His victory adds to an incredible comeback story; Reus, a former junior world road race champion, crashed during a training ride in July 2007 and was in a coma for 11 days. He leads the G.C. in the Tour of Britain with an 11 second advantage over Edvald Boasson Hagen of Columbia-HTC. Garmin-Slipstream’s Christopher Sutton is in third, 12 seconds behind Reus.