BinckBank Tour 2018 Stage 4: Stuyven wins after late attack, Mohoric cements lead

Stage 4 of the BinckBank Tour travels to Ardooie, which is a tried and tested arrival for fast men. Following a five hours of compelling racing - lots of action! - Jasper Stuyven strikes in the finale. He holds off the sprinters with the tiniest of margins to win the race. Matej Mohoric retains the overall lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 4th stage 2018 BinckBank Tour

1. Jasper Stuyven (bel)
2. Caleb Ewan (aus) s.t.
3. Zdenek Stybar (cze) s.t.
4. Rüdiger Selig (ger) s.t.
5. Timothy Dupont (bel) s.t.
6. Jean-Pierre Drücker (lux) s.t.
7. Ryan Gibbons (rsa) s.t.
8. Tom van Asbroeck (bel) s.t.
9. Daniel Hoelgaard (nor) s.t.
10. Dylan Groenewegen (nld) s.t.

GC after the 4th stage
1. Matej Mohoric (slo)
2. Sean De Bie (bel) + 0.03
3. Stefan Küng (swi) + 0.22
4. Maxime Vantomme (bel) + 0.28
5. Michael Matthews (aus) + 0.31
6. Taco van der Hoorn (nld) + 0.32
7. Victor Campenaerts (bel) + 0.36
8. Søren Kragh Andersen (den) + 0.37
9. Maximilian Schachmann (ger) + 0.41
10. Alex Dowsett (gbr) s.t.

18. Dylan van Baarle (nld) + 0.52
19. Jasper Stuyven (bel) + 0.53
20. Niki Terpstra (nld) s.t.
21. Tim Wellens (bel) s.t.
23. Lars Boom (nld) + 0.56
25. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) + 0.58
30. Michael Valgren (den) + 1.04

Race report
Thomas Sprengers, Elmar Reinders and Lukas Spengler jump clear at km 5, while Andrey Grivko and Dries De Bondt try to bridge across later on. However, their attempt doesn’t succeed and the three leaders push on to a maximum lead of more than 3 minutes. Meanwhile, Fabio Jakobsen (winner stage 1) and Sep Vanmarcke abandon the race.

The front group is caught with almost 90 kms to go before a group of six takes off. Jay McCarthy, Julius van der Berg, Edward Planckaert, Sjoerd van Ginneken, Alexis Gougeard and Alex Kirsch are the new attackers, but they are reeled in also.

A lot of movement before Planckaert, Kirsch, De Bondt and Van der Lijke open up another gap with 60 kms remaining. The four put more than 1 minute into the peloton, while Kirsch goes solo with 30 kms out. The Luxembourg cyclist is brought back just before the Golden Kilometre, where Matej Mohoric cements his overall lead by winning one of three sprints. Michael Matthews pockets 6 seconds, Yves Lampaert 3, and Sean De Bie 1.

Michael Valgren Andersen strikes 9 kilometres before the line with Christopher Juul-Jensen on his wheel, but they don’t make it. Subsequently Jasper Stuyven places a well-timed attack in a chicane just before the last kilometre. He powers to the line in brilliant solo-style and wins the race just metres ahead of the Caleb Ewan, who sprints to second place.

Matej Mohoric is still GC leader. He puts 2 more seconds into runner-up De Bie, although Matthews comes 3 seconds closer.