Rally Cycling’s Robin Carpenter finished ninth overall at the Tour of Denmark this weekend. Teammates Adam de Vos and Colin Joyce stormed into the day’s main breakaway and built up an advantage of three minutes before major crosswinds blew the chasing field apart. Once they were within striking distance, Carpenter, who was eleventh on general classification at the start of the day, bridged across to the move and won the all-important three-second time bonus to leap into the top ten on GC.
“I bridged to de Vos’s group because they were still within 30 seconds and I knew there was one last intermediate sprint before the finish,” said Carpenter. “I was frustrated to be out of the top ten by only one second yesterday so I had to give it a try.”
The 199 km stage began in Faxe and headed north to Frederiksberg where eleven finishing circuits awaited the peloton. De Vos not only made the first breakaway of the day but each counter-attack that followed to give him nearly 185 km off the front. It was de Vos’s work that helped set up Carpenter to earn the late race time bonus.
“It was sick, Robin sniped his way into the top ten,” said a proud de Vos. “I was stoked for him. He bridged up on the finishing circuits and we just kept riding full gas, which allowed Robin to pick up a three-second time bonus and move him into ninth.”
After the stage four time trial that saw him fall from third in the general classification to eleventh, Carpenter was happy to reclaim a ten-ten overall finish.
“I’m very pleased with a top-ten here and even one more spot in 9th is a nice surprise,” said Carpenter. “I’m a little surprised with my form after not racing much since California and I’m looking forward to some more races here. The team has really stepped up to the plate and I think we can expect even greater success with this squad.”
The team finished third in the Team Classification thanks to consistently placing riders in the front group of every stage, specifically on Stage two where Carpenter landed on the podium and de Vos came home in 8th place. The end result made this European UCI 2.HC event one of the most successful in team history.
After a short week of rest, the riders will take to the gravel roads of the Netherlands to race the KOGA Slag om Norg on August 11. Stateside, the team is preparing to defend Rob Britton’s title at the Tour of Utah, August 6 -12.
Final General Classification
1 VAN AERT Wout Vérandas Willems-Crelan 18:08:25
2 QUAADE Rasmus BHS – Almeborg-Bornholm 0:32
3 HANSEN Lasse Norman Aqua Blue Sport 0:36
4 GRIVKO Andrei Astana Pro Team 0:50
5 JOHANSEN Julius ColoQuick 0:56
6 VINJEBO Emil ColoQuick 0:58
7 JUUL-JENSEN Christopher Denmark 1:06
8 HOULE Hugo Astana Pro Team 1:11
9 CARPENTER Robin Rally Cycling 1:18
10 RICKAERT Jonas Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 1:23
11 LE BON Johan Vital Concept Cycling Club 1:28
12 KAMP Alexander Team Waoo 1:30
13 MEURISSE Xandro Wanty – Groupe Gobert 1:37
14 KANTER Max Team Sunweb 1:38
15 JOYCE Colin Rally Cycling 1:39
16 KLARIS Magnus Bak BHS – Almeborg-Bornholm ,,
17 KÄMNA Lennard Team Sunweb 1:48
18 RIESEBEEK Oscar Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 1:49
19 DE VOS Adam Rally Cycling ,,
20 BJERG Mikkel Denmark 1:56
Final Team Classification
1 BHS – ALMEBORG BORNHOLM ABB 54:27:45
2 ASTANA PRO TEAM AST 54:29:06 +1:21
3 RALLY CYCLING RLY 54:29:45 +2:00
4 SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE SVB 54:30:46 +3:01
5 TEAM WAOO TWA 54:30:49 +3:04
6 ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ RNL 54:31:42 +3:57
7 TEAM SUNWEB SUN 54:32:11 +4:26
8 VITAL CONCEPT CYCLING CLUB VCC 54:32:19 +4:34
9 VERANDA’S WILLEMS – CRELAN VWC 54:32:45 +5:00
10 TEAM COLOQUICK TCQ 54:33:44 +5:59
