Dumoulin takes overall victory at BinckBank Tour

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Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) sealed overall victory at the BinckBank Tour as Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) stormed to stage victory in Geraardsbergen. Stuyven's win is Trek-Segafredo’s second stage win of the race after Edward Theuns claimed victory on day two.

Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) led the chasing pack over the line just a second behind Stuyven. Dumoulin finished third on the stage to ensure that he stayed ahead of Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) in the overall classification. On top of his stage win, Stuyven jumped above Greg Van Avermaet in the overall classification to nab the final GC podium spot.

Stuyven is not afraid to go long and he jumped clear with just under three kilometres left to race. The many attacks before had failed to gain much ground before being reeled back in but his decision to go was vindicated when the riders behind couldn't rally together to form a chase. As often happens, many looked to Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) to bridge the gap but the world champion wasn't in the mood to play their game. In a case of cutting off your nose to spit your face, Sagan threw his arm up in resignation as if to say, you'll have to do it yourself.

Quick-Step Floors did eventually create some cohesion, but it was too little too late and Stuyven had already got the gap that would hand him the win. He left it all out on the road and even though the stage finished in Geraardsbergen and avoided the toughest part of the climb, Stuyven was totally spent as he crossed the line. The Belgian lay on the ground, catching his breath as his teammates gave him a congratulatory pat on the side.

How it unfolded

After an Ardennes stage on Saturday, the BinckBank Tour moved over to Flanders for the final stage into Geraardsbergen. Dumoulin had a slim grasp on the lead of the general classification, sitting just four seconds above Wellens in the overall standings.

Initially, a group of seven riders got clear of the peloton. Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) was once again part of the escape group along with Elia Viviani (Team Sky), Jay Thomson (Dimension Data), Grega Bole (Bahrain-Merida), Kenny Dehaes (Wanty-Groupe gobert), Elmar Reinders (Roopot) and Tim Merlier (Veranda's Willems Crelan). Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise pairing Jonas Rickaert and Preben Van Hecke decided they wanted in on the party and bridged the gap.

They forged a lead of a little over two minutes, but that would be all the rope that they would get from the peloton behind. As they approached the first ascent of the Muur van Garaardsbergen, the writing was already on the wall for the nine up front. On the Muur itself, Viviani decided to push on, breaking up the leading group and taking Martin with him.

Meanwhile, the peloton blew apart on the following climb up the Bosberg, Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) attacked with Wout Van Aert (Veranda's Willems Crelan).They joined up at first with Dehaes and Van Hecke, but they were then swapped for the support of Bole. The three charged on in chase of the leaders, but by the time they caught them there was very little left of their advantage over the peloton.

As it often does in any race that features it, the Muur saw another big shift in the complexion of the race. Martin attacked his companions as the peloton came within touching distance, only to see Sagan come up and pass him. The Slovakian led the fractured group over the top and down the other side with Wellens and Stuyven not too far behind.

The race would eventually come back together and the attack and reform became the feature of the final 20 kilometres of the stage. Martin and Viviani weren't done with their efforts and both tried to go off the front at times. Attempts to break free also came from many of the big favourites, including Sagan, Van Avermaet and Gilbert.

The longest attempt came from Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), which allowed his teammate Sagan some brief respite in the peloton. Postlberger led through the so-called golden kilometre, but was brought back into the clutches of the bunch by the end of it.

With three kilometres to go, two small groups of favourites joined together and Stuyven saw his opportunity as the pace lulled briefly. Well practiced at this sort of move, Stuyven quickly built an advantage, helped by the shrugging and arguing behind. Quick-Step Floors eventually made the chase, but Stuyven had done enough to seal the stage win.

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