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8/15/10

Farrar Takes Vattenfall Cyclassic

Farrar takes race for 2nd straight year Tyler Farrar showed that history does sometimes repeat itself by winning the Vattenfall Cyclassic race for the second straight year on an identical route as the one used in 2009. Farrar sat back in the peloton while the sprinting teams helped to pull back the many attacks on the day. The early morning breakaway posed no threat but some of the more dangerous riders like Phillipe Gilbert and Filippo Pozzato attacked later on and the peloton had to kick it into gear to catch up. The final attack was a late effort by Martin Elmiger and Christian Knees but they just did not have enough to hold on. Farrar sat in good position while this drama unfolded, but things got much tougher for him once the sprint started.
Farrar found himself in poor position, and it was Edvald Boasson-Hagen's Sky team that was placing their riders at the front. Farrar realized he needed he had to get to the front, and teammate and fellow sprinter Julien Dean gave everything he had to move Tyler up next to EBH. Boasson-Hagen launched incredibly early and Farrar had the advantage afterwards. EBH put in a valiant effort to hold on but he just could not match Tyler, who proved he has fully recovered from the wrist injury that plagued him throughout the Tour this year. Andre Greipel rounded out the podium, taking 3rd place in his home nation. Some of the other top contenders finished furthur behind the peloton, being unable to keep up on the climbs. Frank Schleck, riding in his first major event since his Tour ending injury, started the race but was unable to finish the event. Rain also was a problem near the end, and some riders were more cautious than others on the turns. (Quick Step's Wouter Weylandt actually suffered a very painful crash on the finishing kilometers, but did not seem seriously injured.)
Final Podium
1. Tyler Farrar
2. Edvald Boasson-Hagen
3. Andre Greipel
Sprint Points Winner
Sebastien Lang (9 pts)
King of the Mountains
Nikolay Trusov (6 pts)

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