Dumoulin wins Eneco Tour time trial, Boom takes over race lead

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) was the fastest in Wednesday’s third stage of the Eneco Tour, a 9.6 km time trial in Breda, the Netherlands. Recent Tour de France stage winner Lars Boom (Belkin) placed ninth on the day to take over the race lead with one day left in the Netherlands before the race heads into Belgium.

The first two stages of the Eneco Tour saw Andrea Guardini (Italy/Astana) take a career-highlight sprint victory in Terneuzen and reigning champion Zdeněk Štybar (Czech Republic/Omega Pharma-QuickStep) surge to a sprint triumph in Heusden to assume the mantle of race leader, one second ahead of Boom.

Sole Canadian entrant Antoine Duchesne (Europcar) didn’t start Wednesday’s chrono after a crash Tuesday that saw him finish dead last.

Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland/Trek) rolled what looked like the winning time of 10:57, but Dumoulin surpassed Spartacus by two seconds and now sits third on GC. Commonwealth Games road race gold medalist Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Sky) was third on the day.

Thursday is one more stage for the sprinters before three Classics-style days in Belgium.

2014 Eneco Tour Stage 3
1) Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) 10:55
2) Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland/Trek) +0:02
3) Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Sky) +0:10

2014 Eneco Tour GC
1) Lars Boom (The Netherlands/Belkin)
2) Manuel Quinziato (Italy/BMC) +0:04
3) Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) s.t.