The experienced Belgian sits just a few seconds from the top five.
The penultimate day of the race was an eventful one, and it came as no surprise that it completely changed the general classification. Unfortunately, Ethan Hayter – winner of two stages here and overall leader at the start of the day, had to abandon 40 kilometers into the stage due to sickness, which led to a different approach from our team.
A strong breakaway was in the spotlight Saturday afternoon, when their strong effort at the front of the race forced the peloton to chase hard in order to cut the deficit. On one of the many times up the famous VAM-berg, the bunch eventually split, leaving only a handful of riders in pursuit of the leaders. Two of the chasers bridged across 30 kilometers from the line and together with the remaining escapees, they took their advantage to almost one minute at the start of the final climb.
Yves Lampaert and Pepijn Reinderink produced a strong ride behind, which helped the group limit the damage, and more importantly, kept the former Belgian Champion in the top ten at the end of the day. Timo de Jong (VolkerWessels) took the victory, while Lampaert left everything out there on the hill and was rewarded for this by retaining his sixth place on the general classification ahead of the last stage.
Photo credit: ©Cor Vos
