Spain’s Alex Aranburu won the queen stage in the Baloise Belgium Tour on Saturday, staying ahead of Frenchman Pierre Gautherat on the Mur De Durbuy. Norway’s Søren Wærenskjold remains leader.
On the fourth day of the Baloise Belgium Tour, the peloton headed into the Ardennes hills. In a 177-kilometre stage in and around Durbuy, the riders had to complete five loops, each containing four climbs, good for almost 3,000 vertical metres.
Thirteen riders made an early escape: Quinten Hermans – two years ago a stage winner in Durbuy – was joined by Tristan Scherpenbergh, Lindsay De Vylder, Jago Willems, Martin Svrcek, Valentin Retailleau, Rémi Cavagna, Jonas Abrahamsen, Nathan Smith, Diego Sevilla, Jeroen van Krimpen, Jasper Haest, and Anthony Turgis.
Willems put in a solo effort on the penultimate lap, holding on to the lead in the Super 8 Combativity classification. At the start of the final lap of 36 kilometres, everything melted together again.
Seconds Battle in Golden Kilometre
At the penultimate climb of the Mur De Durbuy, Jasper Stuyven made things explode. When his attempts failed, it was teammate Edward Theuns who went on the attack. However, it was another Lidl-Trek rider who was successful.
Mathias Vacek, second in the standings, grabbed a 30-second lead and was joined by Jenno Berckmoes, Joseph Blackmore and Lorenzo Rota in the closing stages. Meanwhile, in the Golden Kilometre, Vacek gained nine bonus seconds. Did the Czech have a shot at the overall victory? At the foot of the final climb, his fairy tale ended, and he and his companions were called back to order.
In the sprint Alex Aranburu made it ahead of Pierre Gautherat, Jasper Philipsen sprinted to a handsome third place. In the standings, Waerenskjold remains leader. He has a lead of 2 seconds over Vacek and 6 seconds over Aranburu.
So, the final stage in Brussels promises to be another exciting battle for the overall win. The Golden Kilometre could well decide gold, silver and bronze.
