Despite a very hilly route, the fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie created few gaps on Tuesday, through some of the iconic climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Tom Donnenwirth was able to cover these climbs at the front of the race, as part of the day’s breakaway. The young rider was caught 40 kilometres from the finish line, and the final battle around Seraing ultimately allowed only four riders to break away from a small bunch. Mathias Vacek won, while Kevin Geniets and Lorenzo Germani finished seven seconds later. The general classification will be decided tomorrow in Bertrix.
The Col du Rosier, the Côte de la Redoute, the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons… Some familiar names featured on the Tour de Wallonie riders’ itinerary on Tuesday, during the fourth and penultimate stage. The latter took the riders towards Seraing, after 163 kilometres, and Groupama-FDJ had a clear goal. “With this hard course, always up and down, not many flat roads, and also with the rain forecasted, we wanted to be in the breakaway, targeting the bonus seconds to put us in the race,” explained William Green. “After five kilometers, we tackled a first climb, which wasn’t too steep, and Rémy had to follow the moves. He directly found himself in a move with two other riders, but it wasn’t an ideal scenario. We knew it would be difficult for him to fight for the stage, so we rode tempo until the Col du Rosier, at kilometre 42. The goal was to control the gap around 30 to 40 seconds for Tom to counterattack on the climb and jump across to Rémy, who had to sit on until then. It was an ideal scenario. However, the peloton fought for positioning and the gap was closed. Tom did attack on the climb, but only one rider went with him.”
“The legs did the talking,” William Green
This is how the French puncher found himself in front with the Belgian Vlad Van Mechelen, and the duo was able to take a four-minute lead over the peloton. The two men passed the Côte de la Redoute together, then the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons, where the peloton was reduced to around forty riders, including Kevin Geniets and Lorenzo Germani. At the front, Tom Donnenwirth had only a one-minute gap with fifty kilometers to go, and a few minutes later, he was forced to let his break companion slip away. “I think it was the right strategy to put us in the top 10 before tomorrow’s queen stage,” explained William. “That’s what Van Mechelen did. He took all the time bonuses and is now eighth overall. That’s what we wanted to do, but the legs did the talking. It’s the first race back and there’s work to do for sure.” Around Seraing, the peloton tackled the Haute Rochette hill (2 km at 6.5%) three times in the final, the last time with just six kilometres to go. “It was quite controlled by Lidl-Trek,” added William. “Lorenzo was strong. He tried to anticipate, and when he didn’t, he was at the front of the peloton to help Kevin. When we got to the final climb, the legs just did the talking, again.”
Four riders broke away after the attack of Mathias Vacek, who also won the small group sprint a few kilometers further down. “We knew there was a descent on wide roads and that a large group could come back,” said William. “There was a 20-second gap at the top and only seven seconds at the finish. We were close to having quite a large sprint. There were certainly some tough climbs today, but they were quite far from the finish.” Behind the leading four, Kevin Geniets and Lorenzo Germani finished in a peloton of thirty-three riders. Overall, the Luxembourger (22nd) and the Italian (24th) are twenty-five seconds behind the race leader, but they remain in contention for the top 10. “Today was the first real physical test after a long break,” concluded William. “We’ll see how we can push ourselves into the mix with Lorenzo and Kevin. I think they’re both equally strong, so we need to see how we can achieve the best result for the team.”
