Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) came around Axel Zingle (Cofidis) in the closing metres and won Circuit de Wallonie on Thursday. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) took third place in Marcinelle.
For De Lie, it was his fourth consecutive podium of the year, coming off a win four days ago at Tro-Bro Léon. It was a fifth second-placed finish for Zingle, who recovered from a puncture with 30km to go and worked his way to the front of the race in the finale.
"I don't know how many kilometers Victor [Campenaerts] spent in the front, but it was impressive," De Lie said after the win. "What fantastic teamwork again today. Being able to reward and thank all my teammates with a victory means a lot."
A number of attacks and breakaways took place across the 183.9km of racing. Samuele Privitera (Hagens Berman-Jayco) and Christian Lindquist (Airtox-Carl Ras), launched the first attack just 2km from the start in Charleroi. The breakaway doubled in size when Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto-Isorex) and Mirko Bozzola (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) caught the duo and they charged up the road with a one-minute margin 10km later, 170km still to ride.
Bozzola was the first of the group to drop back with under 75km to go. The time gap faded fast for the remaining trio as Lotto Dstny drilled the pace at the front of the peloton.
Tosh Van Der Sande (Visma-Lease a Bike) launched a brief attack with just under 50km to go and then his teammate Loe Van Belle followed with another effort 5km later. The race was back together with 35km to go, as riders began the first of three finishing circuits.
Van Belle attacked a second time near the end of the penultimate lap with 11km to go. A few kilometres later, Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) tagged on. Lotto Dstny then turned up their interest and swept the pair back into the fray for the bunch sprint.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
-
'It sucked actually, the whole Tour de France' - Ben O'Connor gets racing mojo back at Vuelta a España after tough July
Australian remains in GC fight as Vuelta moves towards crunch stages in northern Spain -
How to watch the Vuelta a España 2025: TV, streaming, official broadcasters
Where to watch the third and final men's Grand Tour of the season from August 23 to September 14 in Spain -
'It's painful' – Narrow loss followed by sprint relegation brings double heartbreak for teary Elia Viviani at Vuelta a España
Italian sprinter has result changed from second to 105th, receives yellow card after deviating from line and losing out to Jasper Philipsen -
'It's just a safer play' - Matteo Jorgenson dampens expectations of fireworks by Visma-Lease a Bike before second half of Vuelta a España
American confirms that Visma and leader Jonas Vingegaard waiting for second and third week to strike
