The queen stage of Tour of Belgium 2024 he crowned Alex Aranburu (Movistar) as Mathieu van der Poel’s successor on the demanding finish line of the Mur de Durbuy. Long and treacherous stage for race leader Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), who pays for the direct attack made by the second in the standings Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), but manages to stay in the jersey by taking advantage of the other teams’ ambitions to win and thanks to the sumptuous work of his team.
Tour of Belgium, the chronicle of the fourth stage
177km stage from Durbuy to Durbuy with a 36km circuit to be repeated five times. Three different côtes are on the menu (Champs des Hêtres, Petite Somme and Hermanne), then the passage to the finish line of the Mur de Durbuy (800 m at 8% average gradient), for a total of 2750 m of altitude difference.
Good agreement between the breakaways of the day, four of whom started after 7 km: we find ourselves in front Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Martin Svrček (Soudal Quick-Step), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility). After a few kilometers Valentin Retailleau (Decathlon AG2R La World), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti Kometa), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti Kometa), Lindsay de Vylder (Flanders-Baloise), Jasper Haest and Iago Willems (VolkerWessels), Nathan Smith (Novo Nordisk), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Jeroen Van Krimpen (BEAT Cycling Club), Tristan Scherpenbergh (Philippe Wagner/Bazin). The advantage of escape is never such as to suggest chances of success. The Uno-X Mobility of leader Søren Wærenskjold leads the group.
The first part of the race is animated by the fight for points due to the combativeness between Lindsay De Vylder and Jago Willems, who manages to snatch the jersey from his compatriot. The breakaway is resumed at the penultimate pass on the Mur de Durby, where Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) overshoots and tries to break away a small group in favor of his teammate. Mathias Vacek. The attempt is taken up by Uno-X Mobility, which dictates the pace in the section after the climb.
Axel Huens (TDT-Unibet) takes off: Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) follows him into coverage and Luca Van Boven (Bingoal WB) also finds himself on the two. The advantage of the trio is minimal, while several athletes who had lost contact on the climb return to the group. He outstrips Van Boven on the Petite Somme, but the group keeps him in their sights.
Vacek tries, but everything is decided on the Mur
28 km from the end it starts dry Mathias Vacekwho immediately draws a blank: he tries to bring the couple back to him Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché Wanty) e Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Dstny), joined later by Joseph Blackmore (Free Palestine), while the Czech already has 22″ from the group in which he continues to pull the Uno-X. The trio manages to get back to Vacek after 13 km of pursuit. On the Côte de Hermanne Vacek passes first on the three sprints of the Golden KM, accumulating a 9″ bonus and moving within 2″ of Wærenskjold.
The Uno-X action seems to be running out of steam as a group, while they put a man to pull Decathlon AG2R La Monde, Visma – Lease a Bike and Movistar. The four in the lead arrive at the foot of the last Mur de Durbuy with less than 10″: Vacek tries to get as far as possible to try to break away from Wærenskjold and take the jersey; Rota sprints, but too soon.
The fugitives are sucked into the comeback group, from which they find Riley Shehaan (Free Palestine) strong, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon AG2R La World) e Alex Aranburu (Movistar). In the last 200 m he tries to start along Gautherat, who brings the Movistar beret with him: Aranburu joins him at 25 m, burning him at the finish line. Philipsen third, Rota seventh.
The verdict on the general verdict will be in Brussels tomorrow
Mathias Vacek bravely tries to reverse the race, but crosses the finish line behind Wærenskjold, thus remaining just 2″ from the leader’s jersey. The victory in Aranburu and the gaps gained on the climb mean that the Basque also recovers several seconds in general, now third at 6”. The fight for the three sprints of tomorrow’s Golden KM therefore seems decisive, although the inertia is all for the current leader Wærenskjold. Jasper Philipsen is the favorite for the stage victory, as he already appears to be in good shape for the Tour de France, and was excellent today following a demanding finish.
