Mangel wins in Villers-le-Bouillet

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Frenchman Laurent Mangel scored his third season victory and took over the lead in the Tour de Wallonie by out-sprinting Vacansoleil's Marco Marcato from the breakaway in Villers-le-Bouillet. The Saur-Sojasun rider took the lead in the general classification from Kristoff Goddaert (AG2R La Mondiale).

On a hard course riddled with small, sharp climbs, the attacks were frequent, splitting the peloton into pieces along the 168 route from Vielsalm. The first break of the day contained Frederick Veuchelen (Vacansoleil) and Denis van Winden (Rabobank), but they were caught. The next significant move with Jérémie Galland and Guillaume Levarlet (Saur-Sojasun), Grégory Habeaux and Andy Capelle (Verandas Willems) stayed clear until 40km to go when the peloton finally regrouped.

With 20km to go the peloton split once more, with Mangel topping the sprint from the 10-man move to earn the race lead.