Robert Gesink has been one of the sensations of the year since he reached the 4th place in the Tour de France last July. This was not an achievement that he obtained by luck, as many consider the podium that Matthias Frank got. The Swiss took advantage of winning from a break in the Plaches des Belles Filles stage but Gesink never enjoyed that. The basis of Gesink's fourth place can be found in his time trial abilities. He is obviously not as good as Tejay van Garderen or even Bauke Mollema but he is considerably better than the average climber. That gave him an edge in the two long time trial that the Tour featured this year.
However, even if Gesink jumped to the spotlight this July the hints that he could become a good all rounder had been there since last year's Giro d'Italia. Gesink was racing for Vacansoleil at that point and Bauke Mollema was the biggest favorite for the Italian race. However, Mollema crashed twice early in the race and Robert Gesink found himself as the leader for the team after the stage in Rocca di Cambio. The Dutch went on to finish 11th in his first attempt for a good result in a Grand Tour.
As Gesink switched teams to compete with Belkin this year it was obvious that something had clicked in the attitude of Gesink in the races. Belkin has a great squad of climbers and that allows them to be on the attack in almost every climb. That allowed him to take top 10s in the Paris - Nice and the Volta a Catalunya during the spring.
The next target for Gesink has to be converting his good performances in wins. He has only managed to win once in 6 years of racing so far and it was long ago in the prologue of the 2009 Tour de Suisse. The legs he has had this year deserve a much bigger set of results than what he currently has. However, it is doubtful if a team with lots of climbers, like Belkin, will be the best place to achieve it. He finishes his contract at the end of the season so it might be better for him to look for a place where he can be the leader of the team in the Grand Tours.
The Eneco Tour comes back to the cycling calendar after a two years break from racing in the Low Countries. The race has a route that has been completely revamped compared to the previous editions. In the two editions that we have had so far the top GC positions were taken by riders that were lucky enough to be in a break that made it all the way to the finish line and gained enough time on the bunch. The routes were not too hard, so making time back on these riders was difficult. Nevertheless, the winners of the race have been riders that went on to do bigger results subsequently: Steven Kruijswijk and Davide Rebellin.
The route this year is mainly determined by the last two stages. The penultimate will take place in a difficult circuit around Aywaille, where the riders will have to climb La Redoute twice and the finish will be placed halfway through the climb. The last stage will be a kind of Tour de Flanders with the finish line in Geraardsbergen. Therefore, the winner will have to have a combination of hills, cobbles and time trial abilities to survive the race.
Favorites:
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Belisol): The Belgian plays at home and is one of the main favorites to take the overall win in the Eneco Tour. The last two stages of the race are very well suited to the characteristics of Leukemans and there is no other rider that combines the ability to go over the hills and the cobbles. If he can have a good day in Aywaille he will surely be able to put a few seconds over the other candidates for the win in the last stage.
- Marcel Kittel (Discovery Channel): Marcel Kittel is my odd tip for the win in the Eneco Tour. Even though he will have a very hard time in La Redoute the time he might have won in previous days through bonus seconds and the time trial could put him in a position to contend for the win if he decides to give it all in the hilly day.
- Joost van Leijen (Vacansoleil - DMC): Joost van Leijen will also be keen to do a good performance in a race that he also can consider home. The Dutch has hopes on doing well in the hilly stage around La Redoute but will need to put a few seconds on Leukemans in the time trial to have a cushion to play with at the last stage in Geraardsbergen.
- Dries Devenyns (BMC Racing Team): Dries Devenyns is a similar kind of rider to Joost van Leijen but he will play with the advantage of having Tejay van Garderen also in the team. It can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on whether Van Garderen can take the lead after the time trial in Sittard-Geleen.
Other important riders that might fight for the GC are Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Peter Sagan (Vacansoleil - DMC), Philippe Gilbert (Radioshack - Leopard), Cameron Meyer (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Samuel Sanchez (Discovery Channel) and Tom Boonen (Team Saxo - Tinkoff).
Among the sprinters, taking out Kittel, the best will be Ben Swift (Sky Procycling), Andre Greipel (Radioshack - Leopard), Tyler Farrar (Team Saxo - Tinkoff), Sacha Modolo (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Matthew Goss (Lotto - Belisol) and Christopher Sutton (Vacansoleil - DMC).
Most of the stages in the Eneco Tour are very flat and the first one is Belgium is no different. The route today takes the rider south from the coast towards the inland in Flanders. The stage will finish with 3 laps to a circuit in Ardooie where a mass sprint is expected. Most of the World's top sprinters will be present in the Eneco Tour, so the expectation is big ahead of the flat stages.
The teams with sprinters were very active controlling the race in the first kilometers and therefore the break took a while to gain a sizeable gap. A group of only 4 riders was allowed to go away: Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin), Lars Bak (Cannondale), Lars Boom (Belkin) and Jos van Emden (Saxo - Tinkoff). A few kilometers after the only hill of the route they had a gap of 6' 15'' over the main bunch but the pace was being controlled by Vacansoleil, BMC, Radioshack and Discovery Channel. The mass sprint would be almost unavoidable today.
The second intermediate sprint was placed in the circuit in Ardooie (24 kilometers to go). The gap of the break was steadily going down and was 1' 15'' at that point. Lots of the sprinters joined the sprint for the remaining points available, the quickest being Andre Greipel, ahead of Ben Swift and Jose Joaquin Rojas. However, one has to wonder if that big effort to gain a few points was necessary so close to the actual mass sprint.
The break was finally caught in the last lap around the circuit due to the work of riders like Alessandro Ballan, Mikel Nieve and Fabian Cancellara. It looks like even some riders that are usually climbers are working hard for the sprinters in their teams. Many of those riders are already growing their fitness levels ahead of the Vuelta and are in need of putting some good efforts in their legs.
Two sprint trains were formed with 3 kilometers remaining and it did not look like another one was going to progress. Radioshack had their Tour de France duo with Daniele Bennati working for Andre Greipel. Sacha Modolo took the wheel of the German and is perfectly positioned. Side by side is the Sky train, where Gregory Rast is trying to deliver Ben Swift to a winning position. Marcel Kittel is the rider who is behind the British. Other good sprinters that have also a good position are Tony Gallopin, Matthew Goss and Tyler Farrar.
Daniele Bennati is one of the best lead out men in the field and has placed Andre Greipel in the best position with 1 kilometer remaining. Meanwhile, it looks like Gregory Rast was so strong that he left Ben Swift behind. The battle behind Greipel is very crude as Sacha Modolo, Marcel Kittel and Tony Gallopin are all ready to jump ahead of the German.
The final sprint had turned upside down in 500 meters and it was Denis Galimzyanov leading the way now. The Russian has had a tendency to start sprinting way too early only to blow apart in the final meters of the sprint. Behind him are Gregory Rast and Ben Swift, Chris Sutton and Lloyd Mondory. It is quite strange to see riders from the same team sprinting in parallel, like Modolo and Mondory and Rast and Swift. Surely their managers will have something to say after the stage.
Marcel Kittel wins in Ardooie! It turned out to be a very messy sprint that the German won by a small margin ahead of Michael Matthews. This is only the second win of the season for Kittel, who really should be increasing his tally this week along with Ben Swift. The third place went to Lloyd Mondory after Sacha Modolo completely failed at the sprint.
Ben Swift and Tony Gallopin completed a top 5 that other riders that looked good like Andre Greipel and Denis Galimzyanov completely missed. The pre-race prediction that Marcel Kittel would be fighting for the overall win of the Eneco Tour starts to take shape as the German took 10 bonus seconds and the lead of the race. If he is able to get a few more seconds, added to the gap he will probably gain in the time trial, he could have a good cushion ahead of La Redoute's stage.
The second stage of the Eneco Tour will take the riders from the town of Ardooie to Vorst, in the outskirts of Brussels. Although the stage will be again quite flat there are a few more interesting points than yesterday. Close to the halfway point of the stage the riders will have to tackle a few hills, two of them with cobbled sections. However, they will probably not be hard enough to make a significant impact. Towards the end of the stage there is another set of small hills and even the last kilometer is also uphill.
The break was quite large today as 11 riders made it into the front group. The main bunch was quite confident and the last uphill kilometer will not encourage the teams with sprinters to chase. The first intermediate sprint was at the top of the last hill in the first part of the route, in Mont (100 kilometers to go). Stefan van Dijk (HTC) beat Simon Gerrans (Radioshack) and Jan Barta (Lampre) at the top. Other riders in the break were Filippo Pozzato (Quickstep), Oscar Freire (Belkin), Gerald Ciolek (Katusha) and Anthony Roux (Astana). Meanwhile, Discovery and BMC increased the pace in the few cobbled sections they had but managed to break the group in two parts.
It looked at first that the break of the pack that happened in the second cobbled hill would be rapidly reduced but it was not the case. The very bad weather did not make any favors to the chasers and the chase has been going on for 50 kilometers now. In the back group there are some important riders like Bjorn Leukemans, Denis Menchov, Fabian Cancellara, Steven Kruijswijk and Andy Schleck and therefore Belkin and Quickstep are working hard. However, the gap is still at 1' 30'' at this point and decreasing slowly. It is surprising that Lotto is not working at all for Leukemans, as he might be the favorite to win the Eneco Tour.
Even though the two parts of the peloton were chasing one another the break managed to get ahead to the second intermediate sprint in Alsemberg (20 kilometers to go). Stefan van Dijk was first at that point ahead of Filippo Pozzato and Francesco Gavazzi. Discovery was working hard in the pack to chase them down and increase the gap to the second part of the peloton. The first group was 1' 40'' behind the break and the second was losing 4 minutes. In these kilometers we also witnessed the crash by Rob Ruijgh, who therefore dropped back to the second group increasing the number of Belkin riders chasing behind.
The break was finally caught in the outskirts of Brussels, only 5 kilometers before the finish line. Being such a big group increased their chances but in the end they could not hold on. However, they had to be chased down in the last kilometers by riders as good as Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara and Heinrich Haussler which gives an idea of how hard the day has been for the riders. It is very difficult to predict who the winner of the stage is going to be.
Tom Boonen makes a surprise attack with 3 kilometers remaining and reaches the 2 kilometers mark with a gap of 20 seconds ahead of the group. Marcel Kittel tried at first to chase the Belgian himself but had to give up because the attack was too hard for him. Boonen took advantage of the relative calm in the group after chasing down the break and could well take the stage win as a reward.
Boonen reaches the last kilometer mark 20 seconds ahead of the group but the road is already picking up in slope towards the uphill finish today. However, that gap should be more than enough for him to take the win and possibly the leader's jersey. The sprinters and uphill finishers are already battling it out in the bunch with Ben Swift ahead of Chris Sutton, Sacha Modolo and Andre Greipel in the bunch. Modolo should be the best among them in the hilly final.
Tom Boonen wins in Vorst! The Belgian takes his second win of the season thanks to an opportunistic attack in the closing kilometers. However, it was not easy in the end because he did not have much energy left in the last meters of the stage. Marcel Kittel did well in the sprint again to take the second place and keep the first place in the GC as no time differences were awarded for Boonen. Modolo was actually the best among those that were ahead at the start of the sprint and took third but Kittel seems to be in another level this week.
The second group of the peloton gave up chasing in the closing kilometers and finished a massive 5 minutes behind, a huge difference for a stage with these characteristics. The amount of riders that maintain the chances of a good GC is now under 70 riders and that should make the next stages more interesting.
The Eneco Tour moves to the Netherlands for three stages after the opening in Belgium. The first of those will be really flat as the route sweeps through the dams of Western Holland. The finish line will actually be placed in the Brouwersdam, close to the towns of Renesse and Scharendijke. The area is well known for the strong winds so it could be an interesting stage if the bunch breaks down in groups.
The break of the day was really small as only two riders were ahead halfway through the stage, Alexander Serebryakov (Katusha) and Robbie McEwen (Astana). Their gap was not even big enough, only 4 minutes with 105 kilometers to go. There was a bigger group ahead at the start of the race but there were reeled back in just before the first intermediate sprint of the day, won by Ben Swift. As expected there is wind today but it is not especially strong considering the place they are racing in.
Ben Swift took some more points in the second intermediate sprint, after the first passage through the finish line in the Brouwersdam (65 kilometers to go). He crossed the line ahead of Andre Greipel and Tony Gallopin. That means that Swift is now within 7 points of Kittel in the points' classification. The wind was making some riders struggle in the main bunch even though it is still a long line of riders with no gaps but the gap to the break is continuously decreasing and is now 1' 30''.
Maarten Tjallingii and Steven Kruijswijk tried a late attack and joined the break but all of them were eventually reeled back in with 10 kilometers to go. Both Dutch riders were probably trying to make an impression as they are racing at home. Fabian Cancellara was the main rider working at the front of the pack and he almost managed to break the group into pieces with the help of the wind.
Two sprint trains were formed today. The first of them was Radioshack's, but they were losing riders quickly and with 3 kilometers remaining it was only Daniele Bennati ahead of Andre Greipel. Elia Viviani was the quickest to take the wheel of the German. On the right side of the road Sky would have Jonathan Hivert working for Ben Swift, while Tyler Farrar was the first sprinter behind the British. It was curious that Gregory Rast was not around Swift in the sprint. Other sprinters that seem to be well positioned are Lloyd Mondory, Denis Galimzyanov and Simone Ponzi.
Andre Greipel seems to have started sprinting way too early today as with more than 1 kilometer remaining he is already giving it all. However, he is only being followed by Lloyd Mondory. The two of them seem to have opened a gap over Ben Swift and Tyler Farrar as Sky's train seems to have fallen apart. Meanwhile, Marcel Kittel was not well positioned today but is trying to make up for it and gaining places from behind.
Four riders seem to still have a chance to take the stage with 500 meters remaining. Andre Greipel is holding on to the lead and even increasing it over Mondory but Tyler Farrar and Ben Swift are gaining ground quickly chasing behind. The rest of the riders are well behind, led by Kittel, but it is unlikely that they will manage to bridge the gap and win the stage.
Andre Greipel wins in Brouwersdam! The German takes his second win of the season after a show of strength to hold off Tyler Farrar at the final meters of the stage. Greipel did start too early and that almost cost him the win. On the other hand, Tyler Farrar does not appear too often in the final sprints but when he appears he is really dangerous. The third place was for Ben Swift, who took the points' jersey in the process.
Other than the final sprint the stage did not have a big impact in the overall race, even though at some points in the final circuit it looked like the peloton might have broken apart due to the wind and the high pace. It will be interesting to see how this hard days of racing in the flat affect the hills riders when the race gets to the Ardennes.
The fourth stage takes place in the same region of the Netherlands and will also be really flat. Today the wind should not be as hard, as the route takes the race towards the inland instead of the coast. A mass sprint looks unavoidable. The stage will also finish in a circuit around the town Vlijmen, with almost half of the stage taking place in it.
A beautiful day with next to no wind was very welcome by the riders, given the bad weather that they have had to suffer in the Eneco Tour so far. The break of the day had four riders: the World Champion, Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Grega Bole (Astana), Sylvain Chavanel (Ag2r) and Bradley Wiggins (Katusha). It was a break of a higher quality, especially by the fact that Ballan joined the group. They had built a gap of 6' 30'' with 90 kilometers remaining but Radioshack, Discovery and Lotto looked ready to start the chase.
Nothing relevant happened in the stage until the riders reached the final circuit and the main bunch picked up the speed to prepare for the second intermediate sprint. Matthew Goss took the points available for the peloton ahead of Chris Sutton and Kenny van Hummel. Meanwhile, Alessandro Ballan took the bonus seconds easily and is now 13 seconds behind in the GC. The bunch is going to need to accelerate to reduce the 2 minutes that the break has with 47 kilometers remaining.
Sky, Lotto and Radioshack were in charge of the chase and they timed the moment to catch the break perfectly. With 9 kilometers remaining Grega Bole had tried a late attack and had 10 seconds on Bradley Wiggins and 20 seconds on the bunch. The main group was very stretched but with no wind it does not look like it is going to break at any point.
Lotto had the first sprint train with 3 kilometers remaining with John Degenkolb ready to work for Matthew Goss. Marcel Kittel took the wheel of the Australian. Degenkolb and Bennati are the best two lead-out man in the race so it is strange that Lotto had not built an sprint train so far. Sky was on their left with Gregory Rast ahead Ben Swift and Tyler Farrar right behind the British. Radioshack is also trying to form a train but they are really late today. They normally are the first to build it but today they were not well positioned.
The final kilometer of the stage has lots of corners so the positioning ahead of the sprint is very important. John Degenkolb and Gregory Rast have made a great work leaving their respective sprinters in a perfect position. However, there are lots of good sprinters very close behind, like Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Tyler Farrar and Tony Gallopin.
Matthew Goss leads the way with 500 meters remaining but the sprint is very close today as Marcel Kittel seems to be gaining space on the Australian. Michael Matthews and Ben Swift, in the red jersey, are also quick and still in contention for the stage. For such a twisty finish it is surprising how close the final sprint has been so far.
Marcel Kittel wins in Vlijmen! This is the second win for the German this week and serves him to extend his lead in the GC. He was closely followed by Ben Swift but that will not be enough for the British to keep the points' jersey. Michael Matthews, Tyler Farrar and Matthew Goss completed the top 5. Goss was quite disappointing in the last few meters as he dropped in the order.
The stage today was clearly easier than the last two days but the relevant days for the GC will come closer to the weekend. The time trial tomorrow in Sittard-Geleen will probably start to put some order in the GC but it will probably not be enough to displace Marcel Kittel from the first place.
The first part of the Eneco Tour was full of opportunities for the sprinters but the second one is completely different. It looks like a different race from now on. Today's stage will be a rather short (13 kilometers long) time trial in Sittard-Geleen. Cameron Meyer is the usual favorite when it comes to time trialing but the consensus before the stage says that Marcel Kittel will most probably keep the leader's jersey, as he is very good against the clock.
Marco Pinotti (BMC) started early in the day, given that he was one of the riders that lost time in the stage finishing in Vorst. His time will be a very good reference for the riders coming behind as he set the best time so far improving Julien Simon's time by 13 seconds. The Italian would have been quite dangerous for the GC hadn't he lost time.
David Millar (Vacansoleil) started not long after Pinotti and managed to improve the best time by the Italian 4 seconds. The British is a good time trialist but has only been able so far to take the third place in the opening prologue of the Paris - Nice. It is possible that he gets the same kind of result today.
Millar's joy did not last long as both Samuel Sanchez and Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) improved on his best time so far. The Swiss was the last among the candidates to win the stage today that had lost time in the second stage. However, he could well be in the top three today as his time was 8 seconds faster than Millar's.
Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was the first of the favorites to start that had not lost a lot of time in the second stage. The winner of the Tour de France had a good time trial but could only be 2nd provisionally, 5 seconds slower than Fabian Cancellara. Nevertheless, that puts him as the provisional leader of the race. The American has already won the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France this year but he seems to have an endless hunger for wins.
Cameron Meyer (Quickstep) was 27th before this stage but will surely move up in the rankings a lot. The Australian was also the main favorite to win the stage but rather disappointingly for him he could not beat Fabian Cancellara by a few tenths of a second. Meyer had won three times in the Tour de France but will not be able to continue is streak after today.
Tom Boonen (Saxo - Tinkoff) was 5th before the stage but knowing that tomorrow he will surely lose time in the stage finishing in La Redoute he had an easy day to take the 35th provisional time, 33 seconds behind Cancellara. His teammate Rui Costa started just ahead of him and did much better, losing only 18 seconds. The Portuguese could be quite dangerous tomorrow.
If Boonen did not push hard today Michael Matthews (Garmin) surely did. The Australian was a surprising 7th when he crossed the finish line and that will keep him in the mix ahead of the weekend. Matthews could not remain ahead of Cameron Meyer in the GC but he is provisionally second in the overall classification only 4 seconds behind.
Andre Greipel (Radioshack) took himself out of the equation today by clocking the 91st provisional time, 46 seconds behind his teammate Fabian Cancellara. The German was third in the GC ahead of today's time trial but does not stand a chance to hold on tomorrow so he decided to let himself go today.
Ben Swift (Sky) was more or less in the same boat as Greipel. The British was 40th in the finish line, 35 seconds behind Cancellara. Swift still has an outside chance of battling for the red points' jersey in the last stage if he can handle the cobbles. That could be Sky's only motivation for the remainder of the race, although Gregory Rast might have a chance in the last cobbled stage.
Marcel Kittel (Discovery) made the predictions right and with the fourth place in the stage retains one more day the leader's jersey. The German only lost 5 seconds and that means that he increased the differences with most of his rivals in the GC. His closest chasers are Cameron Meyer, Michael Matthews and Tejay van Garderen. It was also a great day for the American, as he could even start thinking about trying to win the Eneco Tour.
The stage win went to Fabian Cancellara, his first of the year. The Swiss had had no results outside of the cobbles races so far this year so this comes as a nice surprise for him. It is a shame for him that he lost time earlier in the race because a good GC result could have been on the cards for him.
The Eneco Tour comes back to Belgium for the weekend. The sixth stage will be very relevant for the outcome of the race, as it will be a mini Liege - Bastogne - Liege around the climb of La Redoute. In fact, the stage finishes at the bottom of the very famous hill. Prior to that the riders will have to ride a circuit twice that includes La Redoute and two other difficult climbs. The most interesting part of the stage will be to see whether Marcel Kittel can hold on to the leader's jersey after the day.
Discovery was very keen on controlling the race in the opening kilometers of the stage and they did not allow for a big group to go away. The break took a while to settle with 6 riders, including Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Bart de Clercq (Lampre), Sylvain Chavanel (Ag2r) and Yoann Offredo (Astana). They had built a gap of 3' 45'' as they started tackling hills, the second of them being the Cote de Banneux (73 kilometers to go).
Discovery might be pushing the pace a bit too much to protect Marcel Kittel's lead. Samuel Sanchez has been leading the pace for much of the first lap and the Spaniard is a good hills rider whose pace could be hurting the German. They are currently 45 kilometers from the finish line, in the Cote de Chambralles, and 100 riders are still in the main bunch. The gap to the break is 1' 35''.
The first important attacks started in the second climb to La Redoute, still with 29 kilometers to go. Jelle Vanendert was the first one to try but it is Andy Schleck who did the hardest attack in the climb. Chris Anker Sorensen and Steven Kruijswijk try to follow but Oliver Zaugg is now setting the pace in the bunch for Garmin. Michael Matthews is third in the GC and should hold on to the group longer that Kittel.
Sylvain Chavanel tried an attack in the break but he was not successful, the group of 6 rejoined with 14 kilometers to go, in the Cote de Chambralles. However, they only had 50 seconds over a peloton where the attacks continued but none were particularly successful. The last riders to attack were Jelle Vanendert, Maxime Monfort and Joost van Leijen. The leader is still holding on to the pace of the group.
Joost van Leijen tried another attack in the last hill, the Cote de Niaster, and joined the 4 survivors from the break with 8 kilometers remaining. They had built a gap of 30 seconds over the group of the leader, where as many as 75 riders remained. However, Discovery Channel had disappeared from the front of the group and it was Giovanni Visconti working in the front for BMC.
Van Leijen's group reached the top of the hill slightly ahead but they were passed quickly by Bjorn Leukemans, who had left the main group behind with a great attack in the final part of the climb. The Belgian reached the bottom of the climb with a nice gap of 30 seconds over a group of 4: Tejay van Garderen, Rui Costa, Philippe Gilbert and Dries Devenyns. They, in turn, had a few seconds over the main group. Leukemans only had 3 kilometers to go and his chances to win the stage increased with each meter that passed.
Leukemans reached the final uphill kilometer with a gap of 35 seconds, surely big enough to guarantee the stage win for him. Among his chasers the group still had 4 riders but Tejay van Garderen had dropped out and Robert Kiserlovski had joined the party. They still had a few seconds over the main group but the gap was not big at all. It seems like Marcel Kittel will retain the leader's jersey in the most difficult stage for him.
Bjorn Leukemans wins in Aywaille! The Belgian was not the biggest favorite to win the Eneco Tour by chance and, now that he will not do it, he will have to focus on winning the stages. This is the second win of the season for Leukemans, who also won in the Eneco Tour after an attack in the hills before the finish line. The gap to his four chasers was 16 seconds as Rui Costa took the second place in the stage ahead of Philippe Gilbert, Dries Devenyns and Robert Kiserlovski.
The Portuguese will move up in the GC to the second place overall, as the main group crossed the finish line 31 seconds behind Leukemans. As many as 60 riders managed to hold on to the group. Joost van Leijen led the final sprint for the line. Marcel Kittel still holds 18 seconds on Rui Costa ahead of the final stage in the Muur der Geraardsbergen so the German is almost touching the final win with his fingers.
Just caught up with this story after being a reader many pages ago and still love the concept, can't imagine how Dupont and Weening are still going strong though those guys were brilliant at the start of the story but it is nice to see them still up there.
