Tour de Wallonie: Quinn Simmons wins stage 3 in Érezée

Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) took the first win of his pro career on stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie, outsprinting Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën) to the line on the hilly 179.9-kilometre in Erezée.

The 20-year-old American, who took his first win since his suspension from racing by his team late last year for 'divisive, incendiary, and detrimental' statements on social media, now holds the overall race lead 3 seconds ahead of Dewulf with two days left to race.

Alexis Renard (Israel Start-Up Nation) emerged from a small chase group 13 seconds later to take third place ahead of Cofidis rider Fernando Barceló. The Frenchman is third overall at 19 seconds.

"It's my first pro victory, and for sure the first pro win is a big one. It's been a year and a half now as a pro, and to finally make it happen is a big relief," Simmons said after the stage. "It took a while, and I was starting to lose faith in myself. But you saw how the guys rode today – it was perfect.

"Everyone did his job pulling hard from the beginning, and Juanpe [López] was super strong in the finale. It's been quite a while since I played a finale; the last time I won a race was the Worlds in Yorkshire two years ago. It's nice to get the emotion back."

The decisive moves were made just inside the final 10 kilometres of the stage, when Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hnasgrohe), Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates), Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Barceló and Dewulf got off the front on the final ascent of the Côte de Beffe.

They were swiftly joined by the Trek duo of Simmons and Juan Pedro López, who bridged across before the Spaniard pushed on down the descent with 7.5 kilometres to run.

Covi led the chase, bringing Simmons across with him before a regrouping on the next uphill drag. López, Fabbro, Eiking and Covi got away shortly afterwards but they, too, were caught at the four-kilometre mark before Simmons made a move.

Dewulf went with him, and the pair worked together to stay away ahead of a disorganised chase group. They succeeded, heading into the final kilometre with Simmons leading the way on the uphill drag to the line.

Simmons stuck on the front all the way to the finish, launching his sprint from the front. His Belgian companion was unable to respond and couldn't come around, leaving Simmons to celebrate his victory.