Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) turned his week around with a late burst to victory on stage 4 of the Tour de Wallonie, coming from behind to catch and pass late attacker Riley Sheehan (NSN) with a huge solo effort on the uphill finish in Eupen.
Sheehan had jumped clear in the hilly final kilometres of the 167km stage, leaving the peloton behind with 5.8km to run.
The American looked on course to win the stage and snatch the race lead from Kim Heiduk (Netcompany Ineos), but the chasing group behind closed in during the final run to the line.
De Lie put down a massive acceleration from the peloton to fly past stage 2 winner Ben Oliver \|(Modern Adventure) and then pass Sheehan within sight of the line.
Sheehan took second place just behind home favourite De Lie, while Oliver came home in third at three seconds down
Despite missing out on the win after being pipped at the line at the end of his big solo effort, Sheehan ascends into the race lead. He had laid 13 seconds off Heiduk coming into the day, and so his 15-second advantage at the line, plus six bonus seconds, vaults him into the orange jersey.
The grand finale was set up after the remains of the eight-man breakaway, which included Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsburea Lions), Jonah Killy (Tartoletto-Isorex), and Samuel Flórez (Modern Adventure), was caught 23km from the finish.
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From there, Netcompany Ineos took charge at the head of the peloton, ready to set up a tough finishing sprint. A handful of attacks, including one from Yorben Lauryssen (Tartoletto-Isorex), came and went, with the Belgian caught 8km from the line.
That wasn't the end of the drama, however, as Sheehan launched his bid for glory on a hill with just under 6km to run. Nobody could respond to the 2023 Paris-Tours champion, who sped away alone on his quest for orange.
Lotto and Ineos led the chase behind, but Sheehan looked strong and looked certain to stay away and claim another win to add to his May victory at the Circuit de Wallonie. Stage 3 winner Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) gave solo chase at 3.6km from the line, but neither he nor anyone else looked likely to make the catch.
That was, of course, until De Lie launched his phenomenal push off the front of the peloton 300 metres from the line. The Belgian turned the uphill finish into a thriller, blasting past Pithie and then doing the same to Sheehan in the last few metres of the stage.
De Lie collapsed off his bike after his herculean effort to take his second win of the season, while Sheehan will be more than pleased to take over the race lead with one stage left to run.
Results
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#
Rider (Country) Team
Time
1
Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Intermarché-Lotto
4:08:05
2
Riley Sheehan (USA) NSN
Row 1 - Cell 2
3
Ben Oliver (NZl) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling
0:00:04
4
Carlos Canal (Spa) Movistar
0:00:07
5
Adrien Boichis (Fra) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Row 4 - Cell 2
6
Laurence Pithie (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
0:00:15
7
Anders Foldager (Den) Jayco-AlUla
Row 6 - Cell 2
8
Daan Depuydt (Bel) Baloise Verzekeringen - Het Poetsbureau Lions
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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