Team Columbia-HTC took control of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday with a strong team performance throughout the stage around Stoke on Trent before Edvald Boasson Hagen won the sprint.   It was his third consecutive sprint victory at the Tour of Britain and he also took the overall race lead.

"We deserved to win because the guys worked hard to control the race all day and then perfectly set up Edvald for the sprint," directeur sportif Valerio Piva said. "He won here last year and was fantastic this time, too. Maxime Monfort took him to 300 metres out and then he accelerated away. He made it look easy."

"We'll try and make sure Edvald wears the yellow jersey all the way to London," Piva said.  "There are still two tough stages before then, but we're the strongest team in the race and they know what to do."

Boasson Hagen wanted to share his success with his teammates. "It's a good win today because the team worked really hard for the whole stage. I like this finish and Maxime [Monfort] gave me a perfect lead out into the final corner," he said.  "We've got a strong team so I hope we can defend the lead."

Boasson Hagen's victory was Team Columbia-HTC 81st success of the 2009 season.
"We won 85 races last year and we never thought we'd be able to equal it. We're close now and so who knows, we could get there. It's something good to aim for," Piva said.

For more information on Team Columbia-HTC, please visit www.highroadsports.com