Sam Welsford (Team dsm-firmenich) won a stunningly close four-way finish ahead of Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) in second and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in third, following a crash-laden final 10km of the penultimate stage of the Renewi Tour where Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates)avoided the chaos to maintain his overall lead.
Welsford found himself the better of an Alpecin-Deceuninck squad which had dominated the final approach to the line, positioning Philipsen well for the finish as they hit the tactically-significant final corner at the front of the peloton with only 800m to the line.
De Lie was the first to make his sprint effort – keen to rob Philipsen of a clean run to the finish – carrying Welsford, Kooij and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) ahead of Philipsen. But Welsford, who had left his effort a little later, was able to overpower the three sprinters to take a strikingly narrow sprint win.
A crash within the final few hundred metres took down Arnaud Démare (Team Arkéa-Samsic) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), shortly after a crash with 8.3km remaining had taken down dozens of riders and led to concerns for the GC contenders.
Speaking after the finish, Welsford described the final run-in to the line. “it was very tight of the line. I didn't actually know who got it there,” he said. “It was pretty close to me and Olav. And it was a long sprint and bit of uphill headwinds. So, yeah, it was a long way to the line.
“I think De Lie had to go quite early because Alpecin has such a good leadout and they had it really thin. So if you Jasper heads out from you know, 200 metres, there's no one that could really beat him that far. So I think everyone had the idea to try jump him early, and then just pray for the best of him.”
Speaking about the final circuit, Welsford described the tense atmosphere. “Yeah, the local lap was really narrow, as you could see,” he said. “Everyone knew that it was that big fight until about 8k to go and then it narrowed down. So yeah, you can see the nerves and the and the tension rising as the laps went on. So it was a pretty hectic finish.
“But lucky enough, my boys looked after me so well today. And yeah, it's a full credit to them. They looked after me all through the narrow section and I was lucky enough to get the win today.”
It was a long day in Luxembourg for the peloton, with strong crosswinds and technical racing.
An early breakaway formed containing an all-Belgian lineup of Ludovic Robeet (Bingoal WB), Ceriel Desal (Bingoal WB), Kamil Bonneu (Team Flanders–Baloise) and Aaron Van Poucke (Team Flanders–Baloise).
The group stretched its advantage to around two minutes on the peloton at its best but was caught with 63km remaining.
The peloton on the final section of the 179.3km stage - four laps of a circuit close to Limburg. The sprint teams were eager to position the major sprint favourites for the finish, as teams competed fiercely for the front of the peloton ahead of the final right turn into strong crosswinds on the finish approach.
A major crash came with 8.3km remaining, following the turn onto the technical and narrow final roads of the stage. A diminished peloton was left to compete for the finish, with the major sprint favourites having been carefully protected.
The win marks Welsford’s first victory since January, and will no doubt bolster his stock ahead of the upcoming transfer season.
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