This Saturday took place the queen stage of the Tour of Belgium. 16 hills and 177 kilometers were on the runners’ program. The issue was in particular to know whether Soren Waerenskjold (UNO-X Mobility) was able to keep his leadership tunic acquired from the time trial of the first stage on Wednesday. After an eventful stage, it is Alex Aranburu (Movistar) which won at the top of the Mur de Durbuy. Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) did not go far and finished 2nd, Jasper Philipsen completes the podium in a playing field that is not his own.
Aranburu finished 2nd in Eschborn-Frankfurt
The summary of the stage
With this stage profile, many scenarios were possible. Very early on, a favorite found himself in the breakaway. Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) goes to the front in the company of Rémi Cavagna (Movistar). But this group does not last long since 50 kilometers from the line, the peloton is grouped together. The race settles when Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), 2nd in the general classification, goes on the offensive. Taken back by Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty), Joseph Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech) and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Dstny), the Czech still takes the lead in the 3 sprints of the Golden Kilometer and temporarily comes back to 2 seconds behind Waerenskjold.
The breakaway disgusts the peloton and wears out all the race leader’s teammates, but 10 kilometers from the finish, the breakaways are 30 seconds ahead but the Visma | Lease a Bike And Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale come to the aid of UNO-X Mobility. At the foot of the final climb, the Mur de Durbuy (500 meters at 8%), the breakaways still have a slight lead but are quickly caught. Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) is the first to launch, Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) countered it afterwards. But the Frenchman is dominated in the last 100 meters by Alex Aranburu. The Spaniard wins in front Gautherat And Jasper Philipsenimpressive. Waerenskjold loses 9 seconds, just like Vacek. A 3-way battle will be expected in the Golden Kilometer of the last stage since the Czech is 2 seconds away, Aranburu at 6.
