Last two stages of the race will be decisive for the general classification.
Located in the Belgian province of Limburg, Lanaken hosted a BinckBank Tour stage for the third straight year, and just like in 2016, a breakaway prevailed. Magnus Cort (Astana), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Jonas Rickaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Julius van den Berg (EF Education First) were the four men who managed to give the slip to the peloton, arriving at the finish with a significant gap, which allowed them to play the win between them, the Dane coming out on top after 204.4 kilometers in the saddle.
It was the third consecutive day that the escapees denied the sprinters at the World Tour race, the only time a stage ended in a bunch gallop being on Monday, in Bolsward, where Quick-Step Floors' Fabio Jakobsen snatched the first World Tour victory of his career and the fourth since turning pro with the team.
Going into the weekend, which schedules two tough stages – one concluding in Sittard-Geelen after taking on 25 climbs and another one revolving around the iconic Muur-Kapelmuur – Quick-Step Floors have several cards to play in the general classification, where Maximilian Schachmann, Yves Lampaert, Niki Terpstra, Florian Sénéchal and Zdenek Stybar are all well-positioned and capable of making an impact and shaping the overall by the time the curtain will fall in Geraardsbergen.
Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield/ Getty Images
