Benelux Tour: Taco van der Hoorn wins stage 3

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The breakaway outfoxed the sprinters on stage 3 of the Benelux Tour to Hoogerheide, with Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) winning the stage as the peloton left it too late.  

The Dutchman was part of a six-rider attack that formed early and they worked well together on the narrow, twisting roads as the sprint teams hesitated and then slowed after Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) suffered mechanical problems in the final 15km. 

The peloton closed a one-minute gap in the final ten kilometres but the breakaway stayed clear, with van der Hoorn leading out and winning the sprint for the line. 

Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar) finished second after making several late attacks, with Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange) third. 

Also in the breakaway were former under-23 World Champion Samuele Battistella (Astana-Premier Tech) and Thimo Willems (Sport Flanders Baloise) but they were unable to match van der Hoorn’s strong and determined finish. Arjen Livyns (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces) was also in the move but dropped back after taking the points at the intermediate sprint. 

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) fought hard to win the bunch sprint three seconds behind van der Hoorn, for sixth place.

Durbridge was best placed overall at just 39 seconds and rode hard to ensure the breakaway stayed away. He took the nine bonus second offered late in the stage in the Gouden Kilometre sprints and also took four seconds for third place. That lifted him up to sixth at 27 seconds but stage 2 time trial winner Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) kept the leader’s blue jersey. 

Asgreen is second overall at 19 seconds, with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) third at 20 seconds.   

As Odd Christian Eiking suffered in the Vuelta a España, van der Hoorn continued Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert’s run success, taking his second win of 2021 after his stage win and solo attack at the Giro d’Italia. 

“I saw yesterday that some riders wanted to go in the breakaway today. There wasn’t a big gap but the final was difficult for the peloton to control,” he explained. 

‘When I saw the break going, I knew I had to be in it. Then we did everything tactically perfect, with some strong guys in there. In the end, I finished it off in the sprint, which I didn’t really expect but it worked out for me.”  

Durbridge was disappointed not to win the stage or take the race lead but took the lead in the Super 8 Checkpoint classification sponsored by a Belgian beer brand. He revealed how the break outfoxed the peloton.

The five attackers had opened a 2:30 gap early on and then played mind games with the peloton. They also took advantage when Asgreen, Ewan and even Elia Viviani (Cofidis) punctured in the final 15km. Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) also suffered a high-speed crash in the final kilometres, hurting his left elbow and back after hitting the roadside crash barriers.

Their teammates eased up after losing their leaders and that gave the breakaway the vital extra few seconds of freedom that made the difference between staying away and getting caught.      

“You don't get many opportunities to ride for the win, so I’m a bit disappointed. But I’m happy that stayed away. The break was good and we all committed. That’s the only way to stay away,” Durbridge said.

“We played a bit of cat and mouse. We had a chat and decided to stay calm, ride easy and then with 40km to go we waited to get a time check and then we did a team time trial.

“I was going for the overall ... but we gave it everything. But I’m happy with my condition after a second day in the breakaway. I’m here to be aggressive because at the Benelux Tour, you get rewarded.

“I just want to race every day and not worry about the GC. I’ve done this race many times and  the Kapelmuur stage is really hard and it could all come down to the final day. Hopefully I can be up there on GC.”