Bos disappointed with Scheldeprijs finish

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Theo Bos had been hoping to earn his fifth win of the season at the Scheldeprijs on Wednesday but the Blanco team's plans went awry with key leadout man Graeme Brown suffering a mechanical on the finishing circuit.

What hurt most of all, was to come away from the race without a result with the team working tirelessly all day to ensure that Bos was in the right place when it mattered. Moreno Hofland had fallen earlier in the crash that also took down man-of-the-moment, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard), but the team pushed on and were consistently on the front, with a three-man break up ahead for much of the race.

Blanco had put all their resources into delivering the Dutchman to the finish line, however he could only manage eighth place in the chaotic sprint.

"I had hoped I was there in the mix but I just missed a little extra," Bos told Cyclingnews. "It was not perfect. I had to have a perfect race to win, but I was not perfect and the legs are not strong enough to make up the difference."

With 14 kilometres to go, Brown was forced to the side of the road with a puncture. Isolated, he had to wait for a spare bike from the roof of the team car. While there was enough time for Brown to re-join his teammates, with "1.5km left to go, I was cooked," the Australian told Cyclingnews.

"It was difficult after that," Bos said. "At the end we were there but I had to change plans. Maybe it hurt us."

Mark Renshaw stepped in for Brown, dropping Bos into position with 500 metres to go. Bos held third wheel. At 75 metres to go, Bos was head-to-head with eventual winner, Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) but within seconds, it was clear the 29-year-old would not be fighting it out for the podium, somewhat boxed in over the final metres of the finishing straight.

"I had to follow Mark. I'm disappointed. But that's all there is for us at the moment."