Stage 3 winner at BinckBank Tour, Mads Pedersen (Trek_Segafredo) salutes as he crosses the line(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jasper Philipsen of UAE Team Emirates pushes from bunch sprint to finish second on stage 3(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
It was a hard day out front for the break(Image credit: Getty Images)
Belgian national champion Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sebastian Langeveld leads Yves Lampaert(Image credit: Getty Images)
The early break of the day fought in the rain(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Kenneth Van Rooy of Team Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise was part of five-rider breakaway and won most combative prize for stage 3(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Zdenek Stybar fights through the rain at the BinckBank Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Dries De Bondt of Alpecin-Fenix and Jelle Wallays of Team Lotto Soudal part of unsuccessful breakaway(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Mads Pedersen during 157km stage 3 of BinckBank Tour(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Jackets and armwarmers all around for riders on stage 3 at Aalter(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Red points jersey goes to stage 3 winner Mads Pederson (Trek-Segafredo)(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Green leader's jersey now resides with Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) after stage 3 win; he has same time as Jasper Philipsen of UAE Team Emirates(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Most combative prize on stage 3 goes to Kenneth Van Rooy of Team Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
After seven laps of Aalter and 157 kilometres, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) gets stage win(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Wet day for stage 3 in Aalter(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Breakaway of five riders makes another circuit of Aalter(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Belgian Oliver Naesen of Team Ag2R La Mondiale was part of huge crash on stage 1 with 4km to go and was back for stage 3(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) came from behind to win the rain-soaked third stage at the BinckBank Tour around Aalter in Belgium, surviving the twisting final kilometres on concrete roads to win convincingly.
After being protected and piloted by his teammates during the technical and downright dangerous finale, the former world champion made sure he was on Jasper Philipsen’s wheel and then kicked past him down the centre of the road to win by a bike length.
Philipsen finished second with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) third after leading out the sprint.
Pedersen is on the same time as stage 1 winner Philipsen but took the race leader’s green jersey thanks to a better stage placing on stage 3.
Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix) was last to be caught from the break of the day just 2.5km from the finish and thanks to taking the three three-second time bonuses at the Golden Kilometre, he moved up to third overall at seven seconds.
After changes to the race route to avoid the COVID-19 restrictions on sport in the Netherlands, Friday’s stage is an 8.1km individual time trial around Riemst. The BinckBank Tour ends on Saturday with a 188km Flemish stage to Gerardsbergen that includes the Kapelmuur and the Bosberg climbs.
Pedersen rode strongly at the recent Tour de France but had only won a stage of the Tour de Pologne since winning his world title in Yorkshire in 2019. He hugged his staff and teammates in celebration of his victory and confirmed he is targeting overall victory at the BinckBank Tour before taking aim at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
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"It was hectic but my team has worked very well. We took our responsibility from the start and I was able to finish it. That is very nice," he told Belgian television.
"It's not that I like such rainy conditions but I don't mind racing in the rain. You just have to accept it."
"The classification is a goal. Tomorrow's time trial is short and that is good for me, then on Saturday I will try to achieve a good final classification in Geraardsbergen."
How it unfolded
After a day off following the cancellation of stage 2 in the Netherlands and changes to other stages, the riders were happy to be back racing on Thursday despite grey skies and heavy rain in Belgium.
To avoid the Netherlands' COVID-19 restrictions, the revised stage covered a Kermesse-style circuit and seven laps around the Aalter countryside between Bruges and Gent for a total of 156km of racing.
The rain dampened the mood in the peloton but a break quickly formed with Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix), Pim Ligthart (Total Direct Energie) and Kenneth Van Rooy (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) jumping away. They opened a gap and were soon joined by Jonas Rickaert and Adrien Petit (Total Direct Energie) to create a quintet off the front.
After two laps around Aalter, the break had a lead of 2:50 as the UAE Team Emirates, Trek-Segafredo and Bora-Hansgrohe lead the steady chase thinking of the sprint finish.
With 50km to go, Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal) tried to go across to the attack but was marked new Belgian national champion Dries De Bondt, who was protecting his Alpecin-Fenix
teammates in the escape. Milan Menten (Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise) also went along for the ride to protect Van Rooy and irritate Wallays.
The five lead by 1:20 but after Rickaert swept-up all three of the Golden Kilometre sprints, the move fell apart.
Only Rickaert pushed on alone on the road back to Aalters but he was swept up with 2.5km to go after some hard work by Trek-Segafredo to give Pedersen his chance of victory.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
