Tuft wins Eneco TT

Tuft: All smiles on the podium

Svein Tuft moved top of the overall standings at the Eneco Tour by winning the penultimate time trial stage in convincing fashion.

The Orica-GreenEdge rider clocked a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds on the pan-flat 17.4km course which proved four seconds quicker than BMC’s Taylor Phinney.

The performance also saw the Canadian open up a four-second advantage over Rabobank’s Lars Boom in the general classification, with Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) a further 12 seconds adrift.

Overnight leader Tom Boonen dropped to 12th place on the General Classification after finishing 29th on the day, with Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) seventh-placed finish on Saturday seeing him climb to 10th place overall.

Christian Knees was Team Sky’s highest-ranked rider in 11th position, with Alex Dowsett their best placed rider overall in 17th.

Speaking after the stage Tuft said: “We have a strong group of time trailers here and we showed that in the team time trial. We’ve got a good order in the general classification so we’ve had a good day.

“I was hoping to have a really good time trial but I didn’t expect to be in the leader’s jersey at this point in the race. It’s a great feeling.

“I have some strong competitors but I have a good team with guys like [Sebastian] Langeveld and [Jens] Keukeleire who are strong in this region. We’re definitely expecting a big battle tomorrow and I’ll hope to have a good day.”

The final stage looks set to be a spectacular finale with a welcome return of the Muur of Geraardsbergen. This iconic climb will be crested three times during the stage, including a final passage just 5km from home.