A late move makes it in Diekirch.
Despite a hilly route and two steep climbs stacked in the final 15 kilometers, stage 3 of the Tour de Luxembourg didn’t see any big gaps open between the general classification contenders, in part thanks to Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, who rode hard to keep things together. Even when the bunch split on the final climb and Davide Ballerini and Tim Declercq slipped to the second group while Florian Sénéchal continued with what was left of the peloton, our guys didn’t give up and came back for the closing kilometers.
“El Tractor” drove a big tempo at the front, bringing back the only rider who managed to escape over the top of the ascent, before shutting down another attack, two kilometers from the finish. But when another acceleration involving two men came, the duo managed to hold off the chasers, despite a stunning effort of Davide Ballerini, who came close to bringing them back before eventually running out of road. The Italian finished third, followed by the French Champion, who is our best placed rider in the standings, in fifth place.
“Our team did a very good stage, they kept riding well and showed their shape, but today two guys jumped away just as we made the catch and kept going until the finish. We did our best, but came up short, just like on the previous stage. We miss that win, and it’s frustrating as we gave everything, but we’ll keep trying”, said sports director Brian Holm ahead of the penultimate stage, an individual time trial.
Photo credit: ©Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
