Race report | 16 May, 19:05

Team Visma | Lease a Bike keeps leader’s jersey after chaotic fourth stage at Flèche du Sud

Name: Team Visma | Lease a Bike
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The fourth stage of the Flèche du Sud turned into a highly chaotic day of racing for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. In a nervous stage filled with narrow roads, road construction, and constant positioning battles, the team managed to stay well organized heading into the finale. However, in the closing kilometers, a wrong deviation of the peloton created a remarkable and confusing situation in the race.

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The motorbike leading the peloton mistakenly entered the deviation for the team cars, after which a large part of the peloton followed. The riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike were among them.

Because of the incident, the team was ultimately unable to contest the sprint for the stage win, despite having a full lead-out train prepared for Matthew Brennan heading into the finale. “We lost an opportunity for the victory because of this,” sport director Gaëtan Pons said afterward.

After discussions with the race jury, it was eventually decided to award all riders the same finishing time. As a result, nothing changed in the general classification. Matisse Van Kerckhove keeps the leader’s jersey and will start tomorrow’s final stage with a five-second advantage.

Sports director Gaëtan Pons looked ahead to the final stage: “Tomorrow’s closing stage promises to be another very nervous day. Especially the technical finale with many corners could create extra stress in the peloton. Within the team, the full focus is on securing the overall classification with the young Belgian rider.