Race leader Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Race leader Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sam Watson wins the final stage(Image credit: Getty Images)
The day's breakaway(Image credit: Getty Images)
Samuel Watson (Groupama-FDJ) won the final day of racing with a solo attack on the uphill finish at the Tour de Wallonie, while Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) held on to the orange leader’s jersey in a tight contest against GC runner-up Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech).
Strong led the chasers across the line four seconds behind Watson to earn second place on stage 5, but it was not enough to overhaul Trentin, who finished eighth on the stage. The two finished on the same time, with Trentin taking the GC based on placings on finishing positions earlier in the week.
Trentin took the overall lead from Strong with a sprint win on stage 4, thanks to time bonuses and Strong's relegation from his fourth-place finish for an irregular sprint.
"Oh very nice, a very tight battle. It came down to classification placement. Congrats also to Corbin, too, because he was really strong during this race," Trentin said at the finish when he was confirmed as GC winner.
"For us, it was really good that the breakaway go to the finish. My team really rode with heart today. They kept coming back to control the situation."
Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) finished third in the GC, 15 seconds behind Trentin, while his teammate Cole Kessler earned the purple sprint jersey, taking part in three breakaways. Jimmy Janssens of Alpecin-Deceuninck secured the mountain classification. Frederik Wandahl (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was the best young rider.
Four riders from the original 16-rider breakaway that formed on the early part of the 192.1km stage 5 were caught by a charging peloton on the lower slopes of the Mur de Thuin. The fourth and final ascent saw Watson take his chance with an attack on the closing 500 metres and he rode solo to the line.
The first part of the stage was marked with a trio of climbs, Kluisberg - Mont de l'Enclus (900 metres at 6.9%), Oude Kwaremont (2.1km at 4.3%) and Côte du Beau Site (1.4km at 6.5%).
A group of 16 riders led the procession after the opening 12 kilometres - which included three riders with Grand Tour wins, Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies).
Through the 100-kilometre mark, 16 riders rode together at the front of the race and Tudor Pro Cycling led the peloton to protect race leader Trentin, keeping the gap at around 2 minutes.
Over the next 50km, the pace held steady as the lumpy terrain crossed Tienne du Dragon, a short 400-metre pitch of 5.3% with cobbles.
Cole Kessler (Lidl-Trek) was the first rider to try a solo attack from the pack with 48km to ride, and then Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) took a flyer. He was then joined by Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and De Bondt, with the trio never getting more than five seconds.
Through the intermediate sprint in Thuin, Johan Meens (Bingoal-WB) took a shot at upping the pace, and he grabbed a small gap surging up the nasty 500-metre Mur de Thuin, with pitches up to 13% on its cobbled surface. His acceleration on the first of three finishing circuits, with the fourth climb marking the finish line, caused the pack of 15 riders behind to spread across the climb, and create mild chaos.
With 20km to race, a foursome of Matis Louvel (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Maciejuk, De Bont and Calmejane had a small gap on the former breakaway bunch that kept dropping riders and was reduced to nine riders. The peloton trailed by 1:40.
The bell rang with just under 12km to go, the four leaders had 57 seconds over three chasers and the peloton slowly closed the gap to 1:20. The peloton went to work catching previous riders from the large breakaway as the quartet stayed away.
With 7km to go, Maciejuk accelerated and only De Bondt could stay on his back wheel, the two driving the pace with 27 seconds back to the peloton. Their escape ended with 2km to go and the 22-year-old Watson took over as the lone leader to secure his first pro stage victory.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
