Despite being less demanding than Friday’s queen stage, the many climbs and a technical finale made for a nervous race. From the start, the pace was high as riders battled to form the early breakaway. The succession of short climbs kept the pace high and saw several riders try to get away. “It was a fairly controlled stage by the sprint teams,” Head of Racing Marc Reef explains afterwards. “Unfortunately, Niklas also had to leave the race early; he wasn’t feeling 100% fit. For the rest, we came through the stage well.”

In the finale, several attacks were launched from the peloton. Team Visma | Lease a Bike remained well represented with several riders and tried to maintain the right position for the final phase. Eventually, a large group came together heading towards Bilzen-Hoeselt, where the battle for the stage victory was decided in the sprint. “We tried to position Filippo as well as possible in the finale, but due to a crash in the final straight, he didn’t get the chance to sprint,” says Marc Reef.

“The good news is that Pietro has retained his young rider’s jersey. Tomorrow, we will once again go for the best possible result and try to secure Filippo’s position in the general classification,” Marc Reef concludes. Pietro Mattio retained his lead in the young rider classification and will therefore start in the young rider’s jersey again tomorrow. With one stage remaining, the peloton will head to Leuven on Sunday for the final stage of the Renewi Tour.