Christophe Laporte became the first winner of the newly revived Tour of Holland on Sunday, after an incident-free ride through the final, largely flat stage, won with a spellbinding late attack by sprinter Danny van Poppel.
The leader since Saturday's summit finish on the VAM-Berg climb, Laporte's victory rounds out a season that was seriously blighted by illness in its first half, but which could not end on a higher note.
The Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe racer crossed the line just ahead of fellow-attacker Huub Artz (Intermarché-Wanty), with Alec Segaert (Lotto) claiming third. Stage 1 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and points classification winner led in the peloton for fifth.
"It's amazing, I still cannot believe it because it's also not from a bunch sprint like I normally do, just a crazy move to jump across to that break," Van Poppel said afterwards.
How it unfolded
Van Poppel's win brought an unexpected shine to a final stage of the Tour of Holland that had lost a key part of its initial appeal when organisers announced the 13-kilometre local circuit, tackled 11 times, would have a gravel section removed for safety reasons. It seemed all but certain as a result even if there was one short climb on the circuit, there were not enough challenges to avoid a tedious grind down to a bunch sprint.
For the first 50 kilometres, in fact, there was no real action of any note, but with 45 kilometres to go, an attack by Alec Segaert (Lotto) that was to prove crucial for the final outcome managed to gain some distance.
Joined by Artz and Cameron Rogers (Lidl-Trek), the trio's advantage never gained more than 40 seconds, and as Soudal-QuickStep and Visma-Lease a Bike squeezed it back to less than half that in the final lap, it looked as if a bunch sprint was all but inevitable.
However, a late attack by Danny Van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), lunging out of the pack on the final ascent of the circuit's lone climb, allowed the Dutch National Champion to bridge across to the three attackers, with Mike Teunissen (XDS-Astana) trying and failing to do the same.
Van Poppel certainly injected new life into the breakaway move, but a concerted effort behind by Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the Flanders-Baloise team en masse made it seem like the bunch was going to close in on the attackers for sure. The course was quite technical, favouring the break a little with its mix of narrow roads and bike paths, but after a flat, short stage, there was surely enough energy in the peloton for it to come back together.
Instead, the near-unthinkable happened as Segaert made a blistering late acceleration on a short rise inside Arnhem itself, Artz took over, and then Van Poppel came through in the closing metres. Staying just ahead of the peloton on the twisting last approach to the finish, the Dutch sprinter managed to take one of the most memorable improbable wins of the entire season - and all this on the last stage race of the year, too.
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