Renewi Tour

Soudal Quick-Step leaves the Renewi Tour with two stage victories – both brought by European Champion Tim Merlier – and a solid outing overall, capped off by a strong ride of 21-year-old Paul Magnier on the final stage, which took place around the university city of Leuven.

Featuring a total of 28 hills, stage five was initially animated by a four-man breakaway which was quite easily reeled in on the local circuit. That was the cue for the attacks to come, and when they did, it became more and more difficult for the peloton to control things. The combinations of short climbs and narrow roads had many riders try their chance, especially as some of them were keen on taking the bonus seconds that were in play at the Green Kilometer.

Five kilometers from the finish, on Wijnpers, Paul Magnier launched an all-out attack that the others had trouble following, only one rider being able to take the Frenchman’s wheel. Their gap quickly reached five seconds, but a lack of cooperation there led to the chasers catching them, despite Paul’s best efforts, and the stage concluded with a reduced sprint, won by Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), who thanks to this result wrapped up the general classification of this 20th edition.

“It was a very hard stage, up and down and fast the entire day. I tried something in the closing kilometers, hoping to open a gap, but it wasn’t possible. Overall, this race has been good for our team and for myself. From here I’ll go to Plouay, next week; I finished runner-up there last year and I hope to be again in the mix”, said Paul, who finished 14th in the overall standings, the best result of his career to date in a World Tour stage race.

Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images