The 96km-long leg, punctuated by nine classified climbs, brought significant gaps between the contenders.
Two years after hosting the queen stage of the BinckBank Tour, the small town of Houffalize returned with a shorter but by no means easier stage, which at the end of the week could end up having a huge impact on the general classification, from where the sprinters are almost gone after three days in the spotlight.
Iljo Keisse was the first to attack, and joined by Stan Dewulf (Lotto-Soudal), opened a one-minute gap over a group that lost riders as early as the first climb. The trend continued on the punishing Mur de Saint-Roch (1100 meters, 11%), where the peloton split briefly before regrouping on the descent and halving the escapees’ gap. With 70 kilometers remaining, the duo was joined by eight riders, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Harelbeke winner Zdenek Stybar, and the newly-formed group stayed at the front until with 40 kilometers to go, when the status quo changed and three men went clear.
Philippe Gilbert and his teammate worked hard at the front of the chasing group and clawed back time, but the lack of collaboration between the members of the reduced bunch eventually allowed the trio to increase their lead and remain clear until the finish, where Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) prevailed. Same Gilbert and Stybar came across the line half a minute back and made quite a spectacular jump in the overall standings, which should remain unchanged until the weekend.
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski/ Getty Images
