Boonen takes Benelux Stage 5 at home

The Eneco Tour of Benelux came to world road champion Tom Boonen's hometown of Balen today, and the Belgian supersprinter delivered for the local fans.

Thunderstorms and greasy conditions played havoc with the Cycling.TV live coverage, but they were able to show the finish seconds after Boonen outkicked Credit Agricole's Julian Dean and Milram's Simone Cadamuro. It was Boonen's 3rd sprint win of the race, and 20th of the season. He's got to be looking forward to the upcoming world championships, where he'll be a strong favorite to repeat.

Top 10:
1) Tom Boonen, Belgium, QuickStep, in 3:52:20
2) Julian Dean, New Zealand, Credit Agricole, same time
3) Simone Cadamuro, Italy, Milram, s.t.
4) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
5) Alessandro Ballan, Italy, Lampre, s.t.
6) Yuriy Krivtsov, Ukraine, AG2R, s.t.
7) Enrico Gasparotto, Italy, Liquigas, s.t.
8) David Kopp, Germany, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
9) Olaf Pollack, Germany, T-Mobile, s.t.
10) Lloyd Mondory, France, AG2R, s.t.

The stage had minimal effect on the overall classification, where George Hincapie continues to lead Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher by 3 slim seconds.

Overall:
1) George Hincapie, USA, Discovery Channel, 17:24:44
2) Stefan Schumacher, Germany, Gerolsteiner, at :03
3) Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, at :11
4) José Ivan Gutierrez, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, at :15
5) Manuel Quinziato, Italy, Liquigas, at :31
6) Philippe Gilbert, Belgium, Française des Jeux, at :32
7) Joost Posthuma, Netherlands, Rabobank, at :34
8) Alexei Markov, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, at :50
9) Juan Antonio Flecha, Spain, Rabobank, at :51
10) Alessandro Ballan, Italy, Lampre, at :52

Also:

cyclingnews.com : Stage report | Results | Standings | Photo Gallery

VeloNews | Boonen takes another win at Benelux tour; Hincapie holds lead