Ardennes Classics style stage ends Belgian tour but previous day’s time trial was enough for victory
Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) secured overall victory in the Tour of Belgium, after the toughest stage of the race between Clavier and Engis. The 212km Ardennes Classic style stage was taken by Carlos Betancur (Acqua & Sapone), ahead of cyclocross star Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor), with Sergey Firsanov (RusVelo) third.
Martin was not far behind though, in seventh place, which was enough to give the World time trial champion the win.
“The whole stage was pretty hard, like expected,” said Martin. “The profile, I think it was 16 climbs, really hard climbs from the Ardennes Classics, so we knew it would be a hard stage. But we really had a strong team here. We controlled the race right from the beginning, and then in the final I took the risk to stay in front, so that the gap in front couldn’t get far away.
“It was really hard, but I have to say thank you to the whole team,” he added. “The whole week they always protected me. I am really happy for this team that we could win this race here.”
After 40km a nine man break got away, consisting of: Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil-DCM), Carlos Barredo (Rabobank), Romain Zingle (Cofidis), Betancur, another cyclocross star in Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Maxime Vantomme (Katusha) and Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing).
Of the nine however, Barredo was regarded as dangerous however, as he started the day just one minute behind Martin in the general classification. The German put himself on the front of the chasing pack and reeled them in himself.
On the steep climb of the Rue Des Fagnes to the finish, Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) made the first move, but this was quickly countered by Pauwels. Betancur was lurking on his wheel however, and took an easy sprint on the line.
Martin followed just eight seconds later, in seventh place, to secure his first overall stage race victory of the season.
“It was really an important race for me,” Martin said. “I didn’t have a win yet. I had some physical problems due to the crash and it takes always a while to get with a new team and get used to everything, but I think we are now in a really good way. It’s really important to give the confidence for the future. I am really happy, the team is happy especially since it’s the home race here. So, this is a special win and a great week for me and the whole team.
“My next race will be the Critérium du Dauphiné as next step, in preparation for the Tour de France,” he concluded.