Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise) won stage 4 on an emphatic day for the breakaway, taking his first pro victory on the uphill drag of Col du VAM.
Cériel Desal (Soudal-QuickStep Devo) took second and Tars Poelvoorde (Lotto-Groupe Wanty) slotted into third, leaving Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) and Julian Vergouw (Metec-SolarWatt p/b Mantel) off the podium from the original group of five, the bunch two seconds behind Vercouillie at the conclusion of their all-day escapade.
"I went in the breakaway today because with the cobblestones and the weather, it was I think that was the best move for me and the team. That was the first plan. Then in the last lap we still [had] 1:30, that was the moment I believe in it," the 23-year-old told organisers about getting his first win.
"I was the last lap the whole time with my dad in my head. I lost him two months ago. That was the only thing I could think of in the final lap. So I knew I needed to go in a really late attack, and that was a perfect moment. So I think he will be proud."
The GC remained consistent from Friday's shift, with Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) in control of the overall lead by 17 seconds over Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets), the final day of racing on Sunday.
The three Belgians and two Dutch riders stayed away from the peloton through early rain and then blue skies for a little more than 100 kilometres, never gaining more than two minutes.
On the final closing circuit with 13km to go in the 149.8km contest, the quintet held a gap of just over a minute. All five riders in the breakaway were looking to score a first career. It was Vercouillie who launched the decisive attack on the final 1,000 metres, signaling to the sky as he crossed the line with a small gap in recognition that he raced for his father who died earlier this year.
Stage 4 Results
Position | Rider (Country) Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
1 | Victor Vercouillie (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | 3:26:22 |
2 | Ceriel Desal (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team | 0:00:02 |
3 | Tars Poelvoorde (Bel) Lotto- Groupe Wanty | 0:00:02 |
4 | Rick Ottema (Ned) Eew-Vdk Cyclingteam | 0:00:02 |
5 | Julian Vergouw (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | 0:00:02 |
6 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike | 0:00:12 |
7 | Joeri Schaper (Ned) Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team | 0:00:12 |
8 | Pepijn Reinderink (Ned) Soudal-QuickStep | 0:00:12 |
9 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike | 0:00:12 |
10 | Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:12 |
11 | Wessel Mouris (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:14 |
12 | Casper Matyáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:14 |
13 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep | 0:00:14 |
14 | Hartthijs De Vries (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:14 |
15 | Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) Lidl-Trek | 0:00:14 |
16 | Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | 0:00:19 |
17 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Alpecin-Premier Tech | 0:00:19 |
18 | Simon Goossens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team | 0:00:19 |
19 | Jonas Rutsch (Ger) Lotto-Intermarché | 0:00:19 |
20 | Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech | 0:00:19 |
21 | Otto Van Zanden (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg | 0:00:19 |
22 | Steffen De Schuyteneer (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché | 0:00:19 |
23 | Danijel Agricola (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | 0:00:19 |
24 | Jesse Kramer (Ned) Beat Cc P/B Saxo | 0:00:19 |
25 | Jochem Kerckhaert (Ned) Beat Cc P/B Saxo | 0:00:19 |
26 | Sebastian Grindley (GBr) Lidl-Trek Future Racing | 0:00:19 |
27 | Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:19 |
General Classification after stage 4
Position | Rider (Country) Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
1 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike | 8:44:19 |
2 | Wessel Mouris (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:17 |
3 | Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:30 |
4 | Casper Matyáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:40 |
5 | Pepijn Reinderink (Ned) Soudal-QuickStep | 0:01:02 |
6 | Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | 0:01:06 |
7 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike | 0:01:09 |
8 | Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) Lidl-Trek | 0:01:18 |
9 | Pierre Thierry (Fra) Totalenergies | 0:01:19 |
10 | Steffen De Schuyteneer (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché | 0:01:22 |
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