Theuns thanks Trek-Segafredo with victory in final race pubblicato il 15/10/2017
Trek-Segafredo
 
 
 
 
 
Theuns thanks Trek-Segafredo with victory in final race
 
Edward Theuns ended his final race with Trek-Segafredo with a victory at the Presidential Tour of Turkey stage six Sunday, finally breaking through the stranglehold Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) has had on the bunched finishes.

The 144-kilometer final stage ended in an uphill battle where Theuns finally got the better of Bennett in a tricky, technical final kilometer after the Irish sprinter dove into the last corner with high speed and crashed. Theuns just avoided going down as well, recovered, and sprinted to the win. 

Theuns explained: "We had a good gap, and it was nice from Sam Bennett that he wanted to take a pull also. Then he passed in the last corner, inside, and I felt he was going really too fast. He crashed right in front of me, I had to brake full, get out of my pedal, get into my pedal again, but then I could go to (Matteo) Pelucchi's wheel and get the slipstream, and I had really a lot of power left in my legs."

After Greg Daniel put in more than a day's worth of work to help control the four-man breakaway, the rest of the team went to work to place Theuns into the top positions heading into the climb to the line. 

Sensing an opportunity, Theuns jumped at the bottom with some 1500 meters to go - the steepest part of the climb - and opened a gap with Bennett and his Bora-hansgrohe teammate Pelucchi. The three continued to push the pace, with Bennett taking a considerable pull before Pelucchi was able to come around to begin a final lead out. 

Theuns grabbed Pelucchi's wheel with Bennett tucked in third position. Disaster struck for Bennett when he tried to sneak on the inside of Theuns through the corner with 300 meters remaining, taking an aggressive angle and too much speed into the apex and losing grip on the cobbled road. Theuns somehow evaded a falling Bennett and easily overtook Pelucchi in the final meters for the win.

"I expected the last climb to be a little bit harder," Theuns continued. "The team did a super great job like they have done all week. They put me right at the front [ahead of the climb]. I had a talk with David Hunter (@Cyclingmole) on Twitter, and he said if you are a legend you go from the bottom," he laughed. "So I was repeating this in my head the whole day, and I saw the moment when we turned on [to the climb] and (Diego) Ulissi was doubting, and I said 'okay, let's go full from the bottom.'"

Theuns and Trek-Segafredo have been unable to solve Bennett all week, who had four wins in his pocket ahead of the final stage today. But the frustration was only really felt in stage five, explained Theuns: 

"It was okay the whole week, I knew Bennett was faster in the sprint, but after yesterday when we made a mistake in the finale 200 meters, I was super, super disappointed. So actually, yesterday evening and this morning I wasn't the most pleasant guy to be with. But now this has changed, and I really have to thank the team a lot, and we can have a good party tonight."


It was Theuns' final race with the American pinstriped team. He joined Trek-Segafredo two years ago, his first time in the WorldTour, and gave the team a classy farewell today.

"I am super happy it's my last day riding for Trek-Segafredo, and I am really thankful of the opportunities I have gotten from the team," added Theuns. "I had a hard period after my crash in the Tour (de France) last year, and they always supported me, and I came back, I think, to a higher level. I think there's no better way than to thank the team than with a victory like this."



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