Wellens wins Eneco cycling tour back-to-back

Tim Wellens won the overall classification of the cycling Eneco Tour, through the Netherlands and Belgium, on Sunday, with Italian Manuel Quinziato clinching the seventh and final stage.

With his second consecutive overall victory in a row, the Belgian Lotto Soudal rider became the second rider to win the race back-to-back, following Spaniard Jose Ivan Gutierrez (2007-2008). The only other rider to win the Eneco Tour more than once is Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (2009, 2011), reported Xinhua.

Wellens had captured the white leader's jersey from Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) in the previous stage on Saturday. In the final ranking, Wellens finished 59 seconds ahead of his compatriot Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and 1 minute and 17 seconds ahead of Kelderman.

The Eneco Tour started on August 10 with a stage in the northern Dutch province of Friesland. The final stage over 188.6 kilometers from St.Pieters-Leeuw to Geraardsbergen in Belgium was a mini version of the famous Belgian classic Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Quinziato (BMC) was part of a leading trio with Bjorn Leukemans (Wanty Groupe Gobert) and Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep). He attacked on the penultimate climb of the Denderoordberg and managed to hold on to the finish line. Belgian riders Leukemans and Lampaert finished second and third.