Boom wins in La Gileppe

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Lars Boom (Blanco) won stage four of the Ster ZLM Toer in La Gileppe, Belgium and so took the overall race lead in the five-day stage race.

Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat) finished second with Maurits Lammertink (Vacansoleil-DCM) third, both at three seconds behind Boom on the uphill finish. Roman Maikin (RusVelo) led in a nine-man group for fourth place at six seconds.

Boom won the same stage in last year's race and followed up this year with a powerful late attack that allowed him to cross the line alone. Unlike last year, however, when Boom's victory fell eight seconds short of the leader's jersey held by Mark Cavendish, this time around the Dutchman's efforts put him into the yellow jersey.

Overnight leader Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) did not find the hilly finale to his liking, finishing 32 seconds back and dropping to sixth overall. Boom now leads Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) by 16 seconds and 2012 Ster ZLM Toer winner Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) by 25 seconds.

"This is really a great day," said Boom. "I started the stage with the good vibe from last year and that was already very nice. In the finale on La Gileppe, I could accelerate well and I was quite satisfied with that. I've trained very hard these last weeks and that's now paying off."

Action in the penultimate 186km stage kicked off from the gun as eight riders went out on the attack: Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Christopher Juul Jensen (Team Saxo-Tinkoff), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM), Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp), Sébastien Delfosse (Crelan-Euphony), Mateusz Taciak (CCC Polsat Polkowic) and Huub Duijn (Cyclingteam De Rijke Shanks). The escape managed to stay away through the final KOM at 153.5km, but were then caught by the peloton.

Multiple riders attempted attacks on the finishing circuit, but the peloton was together for the uphill finale to La Gileppe.

The Ster ZLM Toer concludes on Sunday with a 176km stage from Gerwen to Boxtel.