Victor Vercouillie wins Eneco Tour stage 4 on VAM hill for Flanders-Baloise

A five-man breakaway holds to the finish

On Saturday, 17 October, a five-man breakaway built a lead of 1:30 over the peloton on the local circuit. Tars Poelvoorde (Lotto-Intermarché), Ceriel Desal (Soudal-Quickstep), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise), Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) and Julian Vergouw (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) stayed at the front for the whole stage, and the gap did not shrink as they rode lap after lap. The peloton did not try to bring them back, because overall leader Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) was not under threat, so the stage was decided within the five. None of the five had yet won a professional race, and Flanders-Baloise was racing its last stage race after 33 years in the professional peloton.

The decisive descent

During the last passage over the VAM climb the five riders watched one another while the peloton closed in, but nobody attacked. Vercouillie then got clear on the descent without a big acceleration. Desal and Poelvoorde finished two seconds behind him, followed by Ottema and Vergouw, and the peloton crossed the line ten seconds after the winner. Vercouillie said he started to believe in the win as the finish line came closer.

I started to believe it when we got close to the finish line.

A win dedicated to his father

Vercouillie wept after crossing the line and dedicated the victory to his father, who died in August. He said the thought of him had filled his mind during the final lap. He also acknowledged that the months had been hard, because his father had been very ill all year and he had spent a great deal of energy being with him.

As I crossed the line, I thought of my father, all those moments we spent on the bike together.

The 23-year-old's first professional victory gave Flanders-Baloise a farewell result in its final stage race, as the team leaves the sport.

Women's stage and classifications

Italian rider Letizia Borghesi (28, AG Insurance-Soudal) won the women's fourth stage over 114.1 km from Hoogeveen to the VAM, riding solo in the closing kilometres. Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) took second, while Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished third, four seconds behind Borghesi. Nooijen keeps the leader's jersey with a 38-second advantage over Femke Markus. Earlier, Maud Rijnbeek attacked with 12 km to go, but she was caught before the line. In the men's race, Campenaerts still leads, 17 seconds ahead of Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets).

What comes next

The Eneco Tour concludes on Sunday, 18 October, with a final stage finishing in Arnhem. Sources give differing figures for the length of that stage, so none is cited here. The race is the new name of the Tour of Holland, and this year marks its second edition.