Picture 1 of 8
There was Belgian delight on the ultimate stage of the Renewi Tour as Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) took the stage 5 victory on the Muur van Geraardsbergen whereas Tim Wellens (UAE Staff Emirates) – ending in second place at 5 seconds – grabbed the general win.
Wellens had 16 seconds to make up over race chief Alec Segaert (Lotto-Dstny) on the ultimate day of the race and duly did simply that because the 21-year-old Belgian dropped effectively out of competition with strikes flying up the highway late within the stage.
The general win marks Wellens’ fourth success on the race, the veteran having beforehand received the 2014, 2015, and 2023 editions. De Lie, in the meantime, might have fun his sixth win of the season after the duo broke away on the entrance of the race within the final 5km.
With climbs of the Onkerzele Berg, Dendeoordberg, Bosberg, and Muur van Geraardsbergen dotting the day’s 203km route from Menen to Geraardsbergen, the ultimate day was at all times more likely to be the decisive stage of the five-day race.
The early levels of the race, a powerful early breakaway made it clear, with Nils Politt (UAE Staff Emirates) joined out entrance by the likes of Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Dstny), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
That robust lead group would not final lengthy, nevertheless, because the break fell aside on the hilly native laps the place the battle for the win could be fought. A number of riders – together with Trentin, De Bondt and Van Moer – remained within the lead because the race hit the ultimate ascent of the Muur van Geraardsbergen at 25km from the road.
Behind them, Lotto-Dstny and UAE Staff Emirates led the chase on behalf of race chief Alec Segaert and GC contender Tim Wellens. The stays of the breakaway had been caught on the best way, leaving Wellens to make a transfer on the entrance as he sought the general victory.
Solely De Lie was capable of observe together with Wellens, the Belgian pair later joined by Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease A Bike), who had earlier been within the breakaway transfer. It was Wellens who powered the transfer alongside, choosing up eight bonus seconds within the inexperienced kilometre sprints.
The trio morphed right into a sextet at 15km from the road as Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Rick Pluimers (Tudor), and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) chased throughout the hole because the likes of Segaert and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) continued to chase 15 seconds down.
This case held till the ultimate 7km of the race, at which level Wellens put in a number of accelerations which break up the group. As soon as the mud had settled, it was Wellens and De Lie out within the lead and solely the run-in to Geraardsbergen, together with the ultimate climb, to cope with.
In the long run, the closing acceleration of sprinter De Lie’s unsurprisingly proved an excessive amount of for Wellens to cope with. The three-time winner was all too completely happy to take second on the stage, nevertheless, as with Segaert ending 47 seconds down, it will mark his fourth general victory of the race.
Outcomes
Outcomes powered by FirstCycling
