BinckBank Tour: Van der Hoorn wins stage 3

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Taco van der Hoorn (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) claimed the biggest victory of his career, after the breakaway upset the formbook by staying away on stage 3 of the BinckBank Tour. Van der Hoorn attacked his breakaway companions inside the final kilometre, doing just enough to keep the chasers at bay.

Maxime Vantomme (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) crossed the line for second, with Sean De Bie (Veranda's Willems Crelan) taking third, and the bunch finishing 1:11 behind the escapees.

There was some consolation for Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida), who started the day 58 seconds down in the overall classification, after he took the leader's jersey from Stefan Kung (BMC Racing).

"We had a very good group. Mohoric was fucking strong. We had a perfect plan. We went really easy all day, long turns - two minutes from everyone," Van der Hoorn said.

"Then, with 70km to go, we started to go pretty fast. In the last hour and a half everyone was doing long turns, one minute, and we made it. We had a really good plan and everyone stuck to it, and we made it. It was amazing."

The close to pan-flat stage looked to be dead certain for the sprinters but some miscalculation and a strong breakaway proved too much to overcome in the end. The gap to the breakaway only went as high as 3:40 but with under 10 kilometres remaining they still had more than 1:30 in hand.

Behind, it was panic stations for the peloton with Quick-Step Floors, Katusha-Alpecin, Mitchelton-Scott, Lotto Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo all putting in stints on the front. It was to no avail, and though the advantage held by the escapees was coming down it was not nearly enough.

Victory appeared to be a reality for the five escapees and they had been working well together, but it began to break up with the line looming in the distance. Mohoric launched a series of attacks in the final five kilometres, but was only able to drop Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij). The remaining four came into the final kilometre together, with Van der Hoorn taking his opportunity soon after the flamme rouge.

The brief pause before the chase was enough for the Dutchman to get away and he looked disbelieving as he crossed the line for victory. De Bie had started the day as the best placed overall in the breakaway, but the seconds earned in the golden kilometre was enough for Mohoric to take the lead by a single second.

"Today, the plan was to try to go in the breakaway - if it manages to stay away for the golden kilometre in order to get back some seconds on the GC that we lost yesterday in the time trial. In the end, all the guys in the breakaway we worked well together and it stayed away to the finish line," Mohoric said. "Unfortunately for me, everybody knew I was the strongest, so it didn't work out for the stage win. I'm sorry for my team, but at least we have the leader's jersey and we will do our best to defend it in the next couple of days."

How it happened

After the time trial, the focus turned back to the sprinters with a flat stage that looked destined to end in a bunch gallop. Kung was resplendent in his new leader's jersey after his dominant win in the chrono.

An early breakaway of five riders quickly formed and the peloton was happy to let them go. The five were: Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida), Sean De Bie (Veranda's Willems Crelan), Maxime Vantomme (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic), Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Taco Van Der Hoorn (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij).

As the peloton passed through the feed zone with just over 50 kilometres remaining, the gap sat at just over three minutes. The bunch was not taking it easy with AG2R La Mondiale pushing a hard pace at the head of proceedings, making it hard for riders to grab their musettes. EF Education First-Drapac would eventually move to the front and ease things up.

As the leaders entered the local laps with fewer than 30 kilometres remaining, the lead was still well over two minutes and the sprinters' teams – led predominantly by Mitchelton-Scott – mounted a furious chase. With the gap only coming down ever so slowly, it looked like they may have timed it wrong. Knowing that a win was a real possibility, the breakaway put the hammer down, switching through turns smoothly as if taking on a team time trial. Even the golden kilometre wasn't enough to tempt them to break rank. Mohoric took the full complement at each sprint, enough to earn him nine bonus seconds.

Meanwhile, the panic button had been hit behind with Quick-Step Floors, LottoNL-Jumbo and Katusha-Alpecin all putting riders in to help the chase. It wasn't over yet but it was going to be close. Quick-Step Floors threw the kitchen sink at the chase, putting almost all of their riders towards the front in the hope they could bring it back for Fabio Jakobsen. BMC Racing also began showing their colours in the finale, looking to protect Kung's jersey. With De Bie just 55 seconds off Kung's lead, they stood a real chance of losing it.

As the race entered the final five kilometres, the gap remained at 1:40 and victory for the leaders looked all but certain. Knowing that his finishing kick was not the strongest in the bunch, Mohoric put in a series of attacks, which saw Asselman dropped from the group. He was unable to shake the rest.

The group begrudgingly remained together for a short while before Van der Hoorn made his move just after the flamme rouge. He buried himself for those final metres and raised his hands in victory for the biggest win of his career. 

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