The experienced Argentinean comes out of the race as Quick-Step Floors' highest-ranked rider in the GC.
Heavy rain accompanied the Tour of Britain peloton also for the final day of the race, and combined with the undulating and challenging start in Worcester, it split the already nervous peloton from the opening kilometers. The group at the front quickly established a huge lead, which became insurmountable by the time they reached the halfway point of the stage, and as a consequence, only 40 men were left to fight for the general classification and the victory.
Quick-Step Floors were again at the pointy end of business, with the likes of Philippe Gilbert, Zdenek Stybar and Laurens De Plus, who all went on the attack during the 180.2km stage, but unfortunately, the latter – who was also the team's best placed rider in the overall standings – crashed in the final part of the race, after colliding with a rider who was already on the ground, and lost important time.
The closing kilometers of the stage were extremely technical, and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) took advantage of this and of the slippery roads which considerably slowed down the bunch, attacking with two kilometers to go and nabbing the victory, despite a brave charge of Maximiliano Richeze, Quick-Step Floors' Argentinean rider, who attacked from the pack on the run-in to the line and took a close second, for our squad's fourth top-3 finish at the 2017 Tour of Britain.
Teammate Fernando Gaviria, who won stage four for Quick-Step Floors' 21st stage victory at the Tour of Britain, also got involved in the sprint and concluded eighth in Cardiff, thus finishing second in the points classification.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
