Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 4 of the BinckBank Tour in a bunch sprint in Lanaken, but only after Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) had threatened to deny the fast men with a canny late attack on the rain-soaked run-in to the finish.
Theuns delivered a powerful sprint to beat Marko Kump (UAE-Team Emirates), Tim Merlier (Vérandas Willems–Crelan) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), but only after his teammate Jasper Stuyven’s mammoth effort had helped the sprinters to overhaul Lampaert within sight of the line.
Lampaert, winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier in the season, seized his opportunity by punching his way clear with a shade over four kilometres to go. With the sprinters’ teams struggling to organise themselves behind, the Belgian carried a sizeable advantage into the final kilometre. Although the bunch was closing, he looked poised to claim the stage honours as he entered the finishing straight only for Stuyven’s intervention to tip the balance in favour of the sprinters.
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In a chaotic finale, Theuns proved the quickest off the mark, and his fierce acceleration carried him well clear of Kump and Merlier to claim his first victory at WorldTour level. Sagan, meanwhile, was seeking the 100th win of his career, but after picking the most direct route to the finish in Ardooie on Wednesday, he found himself caught in traffic here. The world champion was unable to pick his way through all of the bodies in front of him and he had to settle for 4th place.
Sagan’s disappointment will pale in comparison to that of Lampaert, who began the day just 12 seconds off the overall lead and looked set to claim a double haul of stage honours and race leader’s green jersey. The tunic instead stays with Stefan Küng (BMC), who finished safely in the main peloton to maintain a lead of 4 seconds over Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 5 over Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) and Sagan.
The BinckBank Tour continues on Friday with a punchy stage through Amstel Gold Race country to Sittard-Geleen that ought to shake up the general classification.
How it unfolded
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