The first of two hilly circuits will be held in Simpelveld. A short, but steep climb awaits the riders.
Leading the bunch of dutch favorites is Wilco Kelderman (NedU23), as well as Marco Minnard (Jo Piels) and Laurens Ten Dam / Wesley Kreder (Project14ti).
While the Luxembourg-teams have some interesting puncheurs as well: Kim Kirchen (Team Lux) and Vesuvio's duo Sebastien Einsle / Alex Kirsch.
And of course there's Sander Armee (Topsport), who won the hilly stage in the Belgian Crits. His compatriots Francis De Greef (BPost) or Pieter Serry (Accent) join this mix of favorites.
Two of yesterday's strongest sprinters try their luck with a breakaway: Nico Schinker (Lux, 10 points) and Michael Vanderaerden (Nomadesk, 7 points), accompanied by Kris Boeckmans (BPost, 4 points).
So it's in fact three riders, who can take huge advantage today. Yves Lampaert (Lotto) joined this early attack.
3/9 laps have been raced and two more riders try to join the early breakaway: Marco Brus (Jo Piels) and yesterday's 5th Iljo Keisse (Bodysol)!
Keisse, stage-winner in the Belgian Crits, is often to be seen in attempts like this and definitely tries to join Schinker/Vanderaerden trying to fool the puncheurs.
But it's an empty-handed effort, as both get caught one lap later. Halfway through the race the bunch takes control of the race with only 1'30" in arrears.
It ain't the last try though. And the next in line is one of the pre-race favorites: Pieter Serry (Accent) attacks the bunch with 25km to go!
A counter-attack by Wesley Kreder (1t4i) and Tom Criel (Topsport)! They easily bridged the gap and now launch another attack to shake off Serry and the pack as well!
The duo Kreder/Criel looks strong, but so does Serry, who's not going to give up and tries to hang on!
And he does! The powerful attacks made this 3 riders quickly establishing a 1'00"-gap on the bunch and they catch up quickly (16km remaining) to the early escapees.
The bunch struggled to narrow the gap on the following lap and with now only 7km to go (2 climbs), both teams from Luxembourg lead the chase!
But it ain't Kirchen or Einsle to break clear from the chasing bunch: Marco Minnard (Jo Piels), Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabo) and Wilco Kelderman (NedU23) attack on the penultimate climb, facing 40"-gap on the breakaway!
More top-favorites follow a few moments later: De Greef, Ten Dam, Armee, Einsle and Kirchen try to hang on.
Also Daan Olivier tried, but he's already 30" down on this new chasing group.
It's only 2km to go. Einsle (Vesuvio) and Kelderman (NedU23) appeared to be the strongest of the chasing group by now, as both set another attack and try to bridge the gap to the leading group (where Vanderaerden got dropped).
"Flamme rouge", just at the bottom of the finish climb: as soon as Einsle/Kelderman managed to bridge the gap, the leading group opens the sprint.
Tom Criel's powerful kick gives him a small gap, as we have the following gaps now:
E1/ Criel
E2/ Kreder, Serry, Lampaert, Boeckmans, Schinker, Einsle, Kelderman at 0.05
E3/ Armee at 0.24
E4/ Kirchen, Vermeltfoort, Minnard, De Greef, Ten Dam, Olivier, Vanderaerden at 0.39
Criel still holds on to his small gap, while Kreder and Serry appear to be his toughest competitors now!
Behind it's still an open fight, but Einsle/Kelderman/Armee haven't overtaken the remaining three early escapees yet.
The win will be decided between this three, as they built a 17"-gap on this final climb:
Criel, Kreder, Serry.
And Tom Criel takes it, just ahead of Wesley Kreder and Pieter Serry, who struggled in the end!
A great win for Criel, as most people expected his teammate Sander Armee to shine today. A nice tactical move.
16" behind, Sebastien Einsle managed to sprint for 4th place, followed by Sander Armee and Wilco Kelderman.
The early escapees Lampaert, Schinker and Boeckmans fought hard and did well, finishing ahead of a disappointing Kirchen as 10th.
Some valuable points for Schinker in particular, who already finished 2nd yesterday and who now takes the lead in the GC, thanks to his great effort today.
dutch favorites is Wilco Kelderman (NedU23), as well as Marco Minnard (Jo Piels) and Laurens Ten Dam / Wesley Kreder (Project14ti).
Luxembourg-teams have some interesting puncheurs as well: Kim Kirchen (Team Lux) and Vesuvio's duo Sebastien Einsle / Alex Kirsch.
Sander Armee (Topsport), who won the hilly stage in the Belgian Crits. His compatriots Francis De Greef (BPost) or Pieter Serry (Accent) join this mix of favorites.
