Wellens wins the Eneco Tour

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Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) took his maiden victory at WorldTour level when he claimed the final stage of the 2014 Eneco Tour. The Belgian attacked from a large group with roughly 30 kilometres remaining and held off both the remnants of the early break and the peloton. Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team) finished second on the stage, with Yves Lampaert (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) in third.

"I knew what I was getting into, and that it was far from the finish," Van Keirsbulck said. "But the wind suits me, so that's why I decided to go and time trial to the line. This is by far the most beautiful win of my career. I never expected I could get a WorldTour win this year, which makes this special. After Paris-Roubaix I had a hard time finding my rhythm again. This win is everything for me as a Belgian guy in a race like this. It's really important for my morale.

Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) finished safely in the bunch to secure the overall with Lars Boom (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) at seven seconds and Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Shimano) a further six second down. Wellens moved into the race lead after winning stage six of the race on Saturday.

The Lotto rider was put under pressure from both Belkin and Giant Shimano during the final stage but withstood a number of late attacks with his team nullifying a some aggressive riding from several riders.

Van Keirsbulck's winning move came after a group of 20 riders broke clear in the opening stages of the race. Omega put three riders in the move with Van Keirsbulck joined by teammates Julien Vermote and Matteo Trentin, Thomas Leezer (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team), Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team), Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team), Moreno Moser (Cannondale), Kristijan Koren (Cannondale), Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing), Dylan Van Baarle (Garmin Sharp), Michael Hepburn (Orica GreenEdge), Gatis Smukulis (Team Katusha), Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team), Evgeny Petrov (Tinkoff-Saxo), Enrique Sanz (Movistar Team), Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale), Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Lampre-Merida), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), Laurens De Vreese (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) and Yves Lampaert (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise).

The stage became somewhat of a race within a race as the break established a lead of over four minutes and the fight for the overall simmered back in the peloton. Wellens’ team controlled the bunch for large portions of the stage.

With roughly 30 kilometres to go and after a few measured but unsuccessful attacks from the break, Van Keirsbulck struck for home. The winner of the Three Days of De Panne crested each of the final climbs with a growing advantage over the rest of the break as the bunch began to increase their pace.

Tensions at the head of the peloton at one point boiled over with Niki Terpstra and Maarten Wynants both clashing with the riders barging into each other as they fought for supremacy in front of the television cameras. Terpstra was disqualified from the race but apologised after the stage for his actions.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Terpstra said. "I don't know who I was in that moment. I want to apologize first to Wynants and Team Belkin, because I put other riders in jeopardy with my actions and it is something you simply don't do in the peloton. But I want to also apologize to my team and the guys who were specifically here racing at the Eneco Tour."

Belkin were trying to unsettle Wellens as they took charge of the field, but Lotto still had strength in numbers with Marcel Sieberg and Jurgen Roelandts chaperoning their teammate and race leader, Wellens.

Van Keirsbulck held on, finishing clear of the survivors of the break, with the peloton a few more seconds back. Wellens was unbreakable, holding firm under the pressure to take the overall title.

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