The final stage here in Benelux and it's a pan flat 184.6km. An opportunity for the breakaway but also for the sprinters to go at it again.
A group of 7 riders trying their luck in the breakaway today. Minoungou Sibilla Primozic Menicucci De Gendt Moulingui Le Gac
The gap back to the Peloton is 3'38 with 120km still to go.
The breakaway is slowly losing time as the gap is down to 2'50 with 75km to go.
40km now to go and the Peloton has upped the pace as the gap is down to 1'46.
High winds on the flats with 35km to go as the Peloton starts to split! Could we see some riders lose GC spots today?? So far, the Top 14 are where they need to be.
Only 1'04 between the breakaway and the Peloton with 25km still to go.
De Gendt is the last of the breakaway to be caught with only 10km to go. The sprinters and their teams will have sufficient time to set themselves up.
We have only 3km to go and the teams have not done a good job at setting themselves up as Philips lead the Peloton, which is down to only 59 riders!! Importantly, the top sprinters are at the front.
No real trains set-up as we come under the kite.
800m to go and Van Asbroeck has the lead but he has Kalaba, Dzervus, Guerao and Kump in a line next to him. Lander and Zhao are just behind.
400m to go as Kalaba just sneaks into the lead. Very close between these 5 though!
And Kalaba just holds on for the stage win!
Today's podium is completed by Dzervus in 2nd and Kump in 3rd. Zhao is 4th. Van Asbroeck is 5th. Lander is 6th and Guerao can only manage 7th.
Well, who would have seen that coming. Manuel Senni wins the Benelux Challenge. Benefitting from his strength in the hills in combination with the steep slopes of the main Cobblestone stage. Similar can be said for Cyril Barthe who is 2nd and the local Riesebeek who takes 3rd. 3 minutes back to Dulanjana who takes 4th and Vliegen who completes the Top 5. Pre-Race Favourites who ended up in the Top 15 include Altur (8th), Anderberg (9th) and Trentin (15th).
Kump wins the Points classification despite not managing to win a stage.
Gaudu wins the King of the Mountains after a dominant day on Stage 5.
Barthe adds a win in the U25s to his 2nd in the GC.
Benelux Challenge - Stage 6 Report 
