Last stage race before the Zurich World Championshipsthe 84th Skoda Tour of Luxembourg began this Wednesday for five days of competition until Sunday! For this 1st stage of the Luxembourg event,here to our columnist Andy Schleckwho is its president, the runners had to face a hilly course of 158 km around the capital of the Grand Duchy, where victory went to Mathieu van der Poel ! The various difficulties throughout the day did not allow any differences to be made, and it was therefore at the end of a sprint on a slight climb and in a reduced committee that the world champion imposed himself to sign his 50th career victory, his 4th of the season and the first since Paris-Roubaix in April. Producing his effort 150 meters from the finish, the DutchmanAlpecin – Deceuninck was untouchable and easily outpaced Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny).
Video – MVDP hadn’t raised his arms since Paris-Roubaix!
Three Visma in the top 10, MVDP first leader
A good omen, almost ten days away from putting his title back into play in Zurich on a difficult course not necessarily suited to his intrinsic qualities. We then find Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) at the foot of the podium in front Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious). Impressive collectively in this final sprint, Visma even placed a third rider in the top 10 with Wilco Kelderman (7th). Two other Frenchmen joined in the fight for the win: Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, 10th) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ, 13th). 46 riders made up this leading group and are classified in the same time as MVDPwho logically takes on the first leader’s jersey.
Race Summary
This first stage is animated by a breakaway of four courageous riders: the Italian Mattia Bais (Team Polti Kometa), the Dutch Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step), the Belgian Vincent Van Hemelen (Team Flanders – Baloise) and the local Alexandre Kess (Luxembourg Selection). A quartet that sees its lead over the peloton peak at almost seven minutes before the team UAE Team Emirates does not take the prosecution on his own account through Nils Politt. Several difficulties follow one another at the halfway point, with the Montée de Niklosbierg (4.6 km at 6%), the Côte de Bourscheid (3.4 km at 7.1%) and the Côte de Eschdorf (2.5 km at 8.7%). A fatal sequence at Vincent Van Hemelen Then Alexandre Kessdistanced from the breakaway about 75 km from the finish line.
The remaining duo of escapees have a nice margin on the pack, with two minutes left at the 20 km mark, but this quickly melts away as they approach the finale and the day’s deciding factor: the difficult Côte de Stafelter (1.8 km at 8.5%), the summit of which is located less than 9 km from the finish. The teams Alpecin – Deceuninck For Mathieu van der Poel Then Lidl-Trek For Mattias Skjelmose set a big tempo up to the foot of this last difficulty, which the leading duo tackles with less than a minute’s lead. They are finally swallowed up at the top, no big acceleration – except that of Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike), quickly aborted – failing to shake up a still fairly large peloton.
A sprint in a small committee, Van der Poel the strongest!
Despite this steep but clearly not demanding enough course, we are heading straight for a sprint in a small committee and a slight climb in Luxembourg. The pace is very fast on the descent that follows and when the road rises again, a little over a km from the line. The Visma | Lease a Bike team is in a strong position with three riders taking the lead including Christophe Laporte, but it is the world champion who proves untouchable when he makes his effort. A sprint full of power and explosiveness that allows the Dutchman to easily get ahead Christophe Laporte And Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny).
