Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto) took his third win of the season on stage 4 on the steep slopes of the final climb into Durbuy at the Baloise Belgium Tour as the GC battle became a matter of a few seconds.
It was an emotional victory for the Belgian who attacked a breakaway of four with 100 metres to go to cross the line ahead of runner-up Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) and third-placed Orluis Aular (Movistar).
“The last kilometre was pretty stressful, but I knew I could focus really well when I see the finish line. Also, two days ago, I was third in a bunch sprint, and I’m not a sprinter at all, so I could focus on the finish,” Berckmoes said.
“It’s good to go first, most the the time, I saw I had a gap immediately and go on and win the race. It has been a difficult time, and it was difficult to keep it dry, but then my family and my girlfriend was here to support me, so it’s big emotions.”
Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who was also in the breakaway, held off the chasing field to take fourth place, and earned enough bonus seconds on the stage to take the overall lead from Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) by just four second.
Berckmoes moved up to third overall at seven seconds when the Golden Kilometre bonus seconds were carefully calculated. Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) slipped to fourth place overall at ten second back ahead of the stage 5 finale in Brussels on Sunday.
More to follow.
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