Timo de Jong (VolkerWessels) provided a major surprise in stage 4 of the Tour of Holland as the rider from Continental team VolkerWessels clinched his first-ever pro victory on the toughest day of the 2025 race.
On a stage with a summit finish and 13 ascents of the short but tough VAM-Berg climb, De Jong outsprinted his rivals in a three-man attack group containing Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietama Rockets) and new race leader Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease A Bike) to capture the win.
Victorious in the European Championships on the same circuit two years ago, an impressively strong Laporte launched an attack with 29 kilometres to go, with Kubiš following the Frenchman as the two bridged across to the early break of the day.
De Jong was the only rider from that early break able to stay with Laporte and Kubiš, and despite being on the front for so long, he was able to launch an attack in the final kilometre and stay away to the finish. Laporte claimed second, just a few metres further back, and Kubiš third ahead of a peloton that shattered completely on the final assault of the climb.
After overnight leader Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) abandoned in the first part of the race with illness, Laporte now holds a 37-second advantage overall on Kubiš and is the firm favourite to win overall on Sunday.
"From the moment Laporte and Kubiš got across, I knew I had to sit back because they were the big names and I was sitting on the wheels," De Jong said.
"Then when Kubiš attacked on the cobbles [near the finish] I could follow and then I knew the legs were still good, I had to go all out on the last climb."
"Luckily nobody came past me, so I'm happy. I didn't know if I could win, actually I thought the top three would be fine. But winning is something different."
"This morning I was going for the stage, but during the final I had to fight for both the stage and the overall," added Laporte, whose 2025 season only began a few months ago after a very long spell of illness. "De Jong did really well, he was very smart, and I didn't have the legs in the finish to beat him."
"I don't know anything about tomorrow's stage, but hopefully I'll be able to keep the lead."
How it unfolded
Following the cancellation of stage 3 after a serious incident with oncoming traffic, seven riders opted for an early break on stage 4. None of them being favourites and with nothing to lose, Stijn Daemen and De Jong (VolkerWessels), Roan Konings (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel), Simon Goosens (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Ward Vanhoof (Flanders-Baloise), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Hartthijs De Vrijs (Unibet Tietema Rockets) pulled out all the stops to try and gain as much time as possible. Despite it being such a flat approach road ot the key local circuit, by the time they moved onto the first of multiple circuits of the short but very punchy VAM-Berg climb, they had an advantage of nearly three minutes.
Race leader Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) dropped early on, abandoned due to sickness, with around 95 kilometres to go. However, as 17 riders were still at less than a minute overall, even before he abandoned, on such a tough little circuit round the former rubbish heap converted into an artificial mountain, the GC was very much up for grabs
By lap eight of 12, Konings had been dropped, and the six riders ahead had seen their advantage cut to a little over two minutes of a stretched-out peloton where several counter-attack groups had emerged. The most notable move in the GC battle contained Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease A Bike), just 17 seconds behind new virtual leader Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek), with Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) and Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietama Rockets).
Kubiš and Laporte reached the break ahead with just over two laps to go, just as Boulahoite tried a lone, futile charge off the front. However, with the gaps between the leader and a considerably shredded bunch at less than 50 seconds, there was still a lot to play for. As might be expected, given the break had been out for so long, Laporte was very much the driving force. So with only Daan Hoole chasing for his Lidl-Trek teammate Söderqvist behind in a much reduced peloton, it was hard to see how the young Swedish GC contender could catch his biggest rival, and the gap finally stabilised in favour of the break ahead.
Slovakian National Champion Kubiš made one pronounced dig in the closing kilometres, yet try as he might, Laporte was having none of it, although the rise in speed did Goosens and Vanhoof to lose contact. However, there were still six riders in the front as they came into the final five kilometres, and Tietema, with Kubiš and De Vrijs, were numerically at an advantage; the latter did his utmost to keep the little group together for his teammate.
Kubis led into the final ascent of the climb, attacking hard on a rising section of flinted cobblestones, but the way De Jong was able to shadow him easily spoke volumes about how the stage would eventually pan out. Laporte, too, visibly did not panic when he was briefly gapped, calculating his speed to ensure he got back on just as they blasted into the final 300 metre rise to the line. Kubiš led out the final charge with another big acceleration, yet it was to no avail: De Jong rapidly came round him to stay away with a very long drive to the line to claim a surprising but well-deserved win.
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