Boasson Hagen takes all at Eneco Tour

Boasson Hagen the big winner ©Graham Watson

Aug 15th, 11. Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen won the Eneco Tour in perfect fashion with an emphatic victory on the final stage to complete a clean sweep of the overall jerseys.

The Norwegian, winner of two stages at the Tour de France, had continued his superb form throughout the seven-day race and he was once again given impressive support by his teammates - including Greg Henderson.

They repelled all attacks on the 201.2km stage around Sittard-Geleen, meaning the field was together heading towards the finish before Boasson Hagen rounded things off in style.

Coming round the final corner he was just behind Jürgen Roelandts but the Omega Pharma-Lotto man crashed in front of him and Boasson Hagen then had daylight between himself and the rest and was able to ease up before the line and still win by around five bike lengths.

Manuel Cardoso (RadioShack) was 2nd, with Lars Boom (Rabobank) rounding off the podium places in 3rd.

Boasson topped the General Classification by 22sec from Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto), with a further 6sec back to David Millar (Garmin Cervelo). It was his second Eneco Tour title, having won the event in 2009.

The points jersey and the young rider's jersey were also claimed by Boasson Hagen.

Afterwards Boasson Hagen was quick to pay tribute to his teammates, saying, "We had a good plan today and with [Juan Antonio] Flecha getting in the break it allowed us to sit back, conserve energy for later and let other teams do the work.

"Then we controlled the second half of the race and I'm really thankful for all the team's support, they did a perfect job again.

"It's been really good the whole week; we've grown a lot as a team from last year and it's fantastic to see."

Boasson Hagen managed to avoid the late crash coming into the finishing straight and he added, "I looked behind me and saw the other guys on the floor which wasn't nice but it's good they are okay and I'm really happy that I was able to pick up a stage win as well.

"I've also got to mention Geraint Thomas who did the longest lead-out ever in the final 3km!"

Not surprisingly Sports Director Servais Knaven was equally delighted with the team's display as he said, "That was a perfect day - it was a really good, strong performance from the whole team.

"They were strong all week and so motivated – when you come to the final with seven riders you've got so much morale and so much going for you. It was very hard for anyone to get away."

It all set up Boasson Hagen for the final flourish an  Knaven was especially pleased to see him add a stage victory to his overall title, adding, "It was great for Edvald to win today – he'd tried twice to win earlier sprint stages and also went close in the time trials. To do it today in the leader's jersey is especially nice and the perfect way to end the week."

Full Eneco Tour results ...