Stybar wins Eneco Tour

Zdenek Stybar of the Czech Republic has won stage seven of the Eneco Tour today and with it the overall classification. Stybar won two stages on the way to winning the race overall, and described the win as "one of the best days of his life." Stybar attacked on the second-to-last climb of the day, and stayed away before bridging to Brit Ian Stannard, then dropping him on the final climb to take the win.

Stybar was not initially tipped to take the overall honours; the course was seen to suit team mate Sylvain Chavanel more, along with Belkin's Lars Boom and BMC's Taylor Phinney. However, it was not undeserved, as Stybar had to work very hard to stay away today, and to win stage three when he caught out sprinters the likes of Andre Greipel.

Stybar described winning the race as a surprise, but did comment that his freshness after skipping the Tour de France through injury probably helped with catching out riders who had finished the tough Tour parcours. The Czech rider is a former cyclo-cross world champion, and has also been very successful since turning his hand to road cycling fully in 2012. 

This year he surprised everyone with a sixth place in Paris-Roubaix, a result which many speculated could have been higher had he not been struck by a fan and shuck up when he was up front with Fabian Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke. Stybar is no doubt going to progress after his win in the Benelux, and will be targetting bigger things in 2014.