Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 5 of the BinckBank Tour.
Stage 4 report: Theuns wins the sprint in Lanaken
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of today's 167km stage, It is like a mini Amstel Gold Race in the Limburg hills of the southern Netherlands.
As we join the action, the seven-rider break of the day remains out front.
The seven adventurers are Van Emden, Brändle, Würtz Schmidt, Docker, Insausti, Asselman and Duijn.
They jumped away after 25km and currently have a lead of 4:20 with 80km to race.
The peloton seems happy to let the seven hang out front for now. But the pace has increased a little and so the gap should begin to fall.
After studying the photo of the breakaway its easy to see that the Orica-Scott rider is actually Michael Hepburn and not Mitch Docker.
There's no sign of Docker's thick 'tache.
The riders started on wt roads and under grey skies but avoid so far avoided any heavy rain.
Philippe Gilbert is one of the contenders for victory today, as is local resident Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb).
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) is also a threat today. He could take his 100th career victory today.
Sagan is one of the stars of the BinckBank Tour but is over shadowed by Dumoulin today. The stage started in the Tom Dumoulin bike park.
up front the break is working smoothly but so is the peloton. The gap is now down to 3:00.
Several riders clash and go into the ditch.
They include Oliver Naesen (AG2R).
The riders seemed to crash after a touch of wheels as the speed increased.
A replay of the crash shows that traffic furniture split the road and the peloton.
A rider crashed, sparking several others to go off road and into the ditch.
Rory Sutherland (Movistar) was one of several riders to crash. They are all chasing back to the peloton.
The pace is high because the race is about to hit a climb.
Sadly the LottoNL team has confirmed that Robert Wagner has been forced to retire after the crash.
Andre Greipel is again upfront and seemingly not waiting for the sprint.
Cannondale-Drapac have picked-up the pace on an exposed area.
Everyone is fighting for position now.
Greipel seems ready to jump in a counter-attack.
The roads are narrow now, and are about to get tighter, with Ganna the latest to crash.
A change in direction out of the forest has meant the riders are packed tight on the left now.
The tension is rising as the twisting roads make the riders nervous and aggressive.
The turn and the exposed roads has sparked several splits in the peloton.
Race on!
The high-speed has meant the gap to the break is down to 1:20.
The riders will soon pass through the finish area and then face a 38km lap in the hills.
Greipel is again driving hard on the front of the peloton. He has support from Team Sunweb, as both teams want to ensure the chasers struggle to get back on.
Peter Sagan is up front, as is race leader Stefan Kung (BMC) and his teammate Greg van Avermaet.
The break enters the Tom Dumoulin bike park and will soon go through the finish.
The organisers haver decided to strip out several tight corners and slight rise to make the finish safer in case of rain.
It is dry so far.
Yesterday was a different story, with the riders racing on wet roads, as they did in the Colorado Classic in the USA.
Surprisingly Stefan Kung is having to chase the front group.
He seemed to be in the front group but has perhaps suffered a mechanical problem.
He has Greg van Avermaet up front but he will not drop back so that he has a chance of a stage victory.
kung has panicked and is riding like crazy but he is about to be caught by the chase group.
The BMC team has confirmed that Kung took a wheel from a teammate. However he looks likely to lose his leader's jersey.
Both Lotto Soudal and Team Sunweb are driving the pace up front.
He has a BMC teammate to help him chase but the riders up front are going full gas.
Kung has some help from other BMC teammates and other riders but the gap is still 25 seconds or so.
kung has Drucker, Quinziato and Nathan Van Hooydonck to help him chase.
Katusha also missed the split and so are helping kung.
24km remaining from 167km
The race is about to hit the Golden Kilometre, where time bonuses of up to 9 seconds are award in three sprints.
Andre Greipel is riding on the front for Lotto teammate Tim Wellens.
Wellens won the race in 2014 and 2015 and needs to earn every possible second on Kung.
The riders hit a climb as the two groups comeback together.
Kung has saved his leaders jersey for now but now faces an intense finale.
The speed is high because riders are fighting for position before the climb.
He is trying to join Hepburn and Vakoc up front - the remains of the break.
Vakoc is first through the start of the Golden Kilometre, while other riders attack behind.
Valgren picks up the 1 second bonus but Wellens is on the move too.
Wellens takes the 1-second bonus behind Hepburn and Vakoc.
The narrow roads will cause some problems, with Wout van Aert giving his wheel to Devolder.
The peloton is on country roads. Anything could happen here.
Wellens' group has caught Hepburn and Vakoc and blasts past them.
Valgren is trying to stay with Wellens but the chasers are fighting back too.
The chase has split, with 15 or so riders in there, including Sagan and Dumoulin.
Benoot of Lotto Soudal crashes on a tight turn. The racing is full gas now.
There are some big names in the move.
Sagan ups the speed. He's alone but Kung is missing and so Sagan goes for it.
He will want to split the group and stop the chasers coming across.
Kung is in the third group on the road. He's paying for his big effort earlier after his flat.
Also up front at Naesen, Stuyven and Vanmarcke.
Naesen has two AG2R teammates and they're driving the pace.
Sagan attacks!
Sagan is trying it split the front attack and shake out riders who are sitting on.
Other riders have come across despite Sagan's surge.
Van Avermaet has made it, as has Gilbert and Greipel.
But Stuyven and Bakelants have sneaked away.
Danny Van Poppel is there for Team Sky but Greipel is a threat for the sprint.
Vanmarcke attacks before a sharp turn right. But they chase him down.
The front group enters the Dumoulin sports complex. Boom attacked when Vanmarcke was caught. He now has a gap.
500m to go.
Boom can see the finish line.
Boom!
Lars Boom wins it with a great solo late attack.
Sagan wins the sprint for second place, with Van Avermaet third.
A chase group comes in 48 seconds down but there is no sign of Kung. He will have lost the leader's green jersey to Sagan.
Boom was raging with anger as he crossed the line, producing an offensive gesture with his arm.
his last win was back in 2015 and his last WorldTour win was at the Tour de France in 2014. It's been a while...
It seems Booms' time gap and time bonus also gives him the race lead.
No wonder he was happy at the finish.
He vented his emotion by bouncing his bike several times after crossing the finish.
Indeed provisional results show that Boom leads Sagan by 2 seconds. We'll see if it confirmed because the maths does not add up.
Kung was actually in the front group and is shown as third overall at 3 seconds.
This is the stage result:
1 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 3:43:46
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:00:03
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
4 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
7 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
8 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
10 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
Lars Boom climbs on the podium as stage winner and lifts the barrel of beer above his head in celebration.
He returns to also pull on the leader's green jersey.
He seems a lot happier than when he crossed the line.
A new overall classification shows Tom Dumoulin as third overall.
This is the updated provisional GC.
Kung has slipped out of the top ten after finishing in a chase group.
Provisional general classification:
1 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 15:23:17
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:00:02
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb 00:00:08
4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 00:00:19
5 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:27
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
7 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 00:00:29
8 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 00:00:32
9 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott 00:00:35
10 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 00:00:36
Boom won the Eneco Tour back in 2012 back in 2012 and so has a real chance of victory in this year's newly-named BinckBank Tour.
He will have to fight for time bonuses but is suited to the hilly stages at the weekend.
Boom was asked one question in English before going onto the podium. He didn't fully explain his gesture but talked about 'anger and happiness'
“The spring Classics were not what I hoped for this year and there was a lot of anger and happiness when I passed the finish with this victory,” he said.
“I’ve worked really hard in the last few weeks and months to get back in good shape, that’s why I’m so happy.”
Asked if he is back to his best, Boom said: “I hope so.”
As expected, the stage was like a mini-Amstel Gold Race, with the twisting, narrow roads and series of climbs making for a selective and fascinating race.
Speaking in Dutch after his stage victory, Boom said of his gesture at the finis
"Those people who know me will know why this was."
He also talked about his attack with 2km to go.
"I was lucky to still be up front. When Sunweb broke it up, I sat in the back because I was slowed by a fall. In that favourite group I just went along."
"At 2 kilometres from the end I went a little faster through a corner and I thought: this is my moment. The others expected Sagan to close the gap, which I could benefit from."
Today saw many of the Classics riders to fore.
The Australian Classics rider has been hut by a testing knee injury and knows that he could be facing the end of his career.
Click here to read the Haussler interview.
We have the first shots from the BinckBank Tour showing how Lars Boom vented his anger and happiness on winning the stage.
To read Boom's initial reaction, the full stage report and check out our full photo gallery, click here.
The BinckBank Tour ends on Sunday and we will have live coverage of the action during Saturday's 203km from Riemst to Houffalize and then Sunday's decisive stage that ends on the legendary Geraardsbergen cobbled climb.
Joins us to see who wins overall.
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