BinckBank Tour 2018 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

August 19, 2018

BinckBank Tour 2018 – Stage 7 – Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure – Geraardsbergen : 215,6 km

The 2018 BinckBank Tour will feature no fewer than four former overall winners when the peloton takes to the start line in Heerenveen, in the Netherlands, on Monday. While last year’s winner of the race, Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin, is not starting the event this year, the winner in 2016, Quick-Step’s Niki Terpstra, lines up with teammate and 2013 champion Zdenek Stybar, and alongside 2012 victor Lars Boom (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Lotto Soudal’s Tim Wellens, who won in both 2014 and 2015. The seven-day stage race, which takes place in both the Netherlands and Belgium, was formerly known as the Eneco Tour, until the change of its main sponsor to BinckBank in 2017. Although it’s clearly a stage race, it attracts many of professional cycling’s top one-day riders, and is often described as a mixture of the Amstel Gold Race, the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Indeed, the famous cobbled climb of the Muur van Geraardsbergen, used in Flanders, often features on the course, and this year is no exception: the climb provides the grand finale to the BinckBank Tour this year on Sunday, and will see the winner of the race crowned on its slopes.

Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) took victory on the final stage 7 of the BinckBank Tour, while Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) claimed the overall victory. Matthews out-gunned Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing), powering up the Muur van Geraardsbergen to take a clear win over the Belgian with Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) finished in third once again.

It was another relentlessly aggressive finale on stage 7 with the main contenders taking it in turns to take chunks out of each other on the multitude of climbs in the final 40 kilometres. After his team did a lot of work early on, Mohoric was once again left to his own devices at the pointy end of proceedings.

The Slovenian once again managed himself admirably, shutting down several moves and digging in deep to keep in touch after being dropped on some of the tougher climbs. Mohoric led the bunch onto the final ascent of the Muur but was soon distanced, losing 14 seconds to Matthews along with the bonus seconds earned by the Australian. However, he did just enough to hold onto his leader’s jersey by five seconds to Matthews, and claimed the overall title.

“We tried really hard to defend the jersey, we rode really hard from the start to keep the breakaway in check. In the final, I tried to respond to all the attacks from the other guys,” Mohoric said. “Michael Matthews and [Soren] Kragh Andersen were really strong today and they attacked me many times but I always managed to come back. At the finish, I gave it my all until the line and it was very close but I was lucky enough to win.

“It was a really hard week of racing. After that successful breakaway, we defended the jersey every day. It was quite close on a couple of occasions but we defended it each day. We took it day by day and kilometre by kilometre and showed some really good team spirit, even if we might not be the strongest team in the race. We rode well together and in the end it worked out.”

The final kilometres of the stage were marked by a lengthy attack from Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale). The former Belgian champion went with less than 20 kilometres to go but was eventually reeled back on the penultimate climb of the day. With the group all together, it would be Morhoric that led them into the foot of the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

The race leader would soon be swamped as, first, Van Avermaet launched his attack and distanced the Slovenian. Matthews held back, making his move just before the final turn. His injection of pace saw him storm past Van Avermaet with comparative ease. The finish line was midway up the iconic climb, and Matthews was able to use his sprint power to hold off the Belgian and take the stage win.

“It’s incredible. We came here with a goal with the GC with me and Soren and the sprint with Max. We did a really good team effort this week and today was one of my really big goals this week,” Matthews said. “I wanted to finish it off in a really good way. Soren really sacrificed himself for me today. He was actually the leader of this race but he could see that maybe I had better legs in the final so he pulled the breakaway back to give me the best opportunity in the sprint. I’m just so happy to finish it off.

[Mohoric] was just too strong. We tried everything, we had two riders to try and crack him but he played it really smart and there was not much more that we could do. We threw everything at him and I guess we have to be happy with second.”

How it happened

After six days of racing, the fight for the overall classification would come down to one last stage through the hellingen of Flanders. The riders would have to take on 18 climbs, predominantly packed into the second half of the 215km stage, including the Bosberg and the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

Four early climbs made for a hard start to the day and the breakaway went through several incarnations before a group of seven was finally decided upon. Laurens De Vreese (Astana), Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo) , Jonas Rickaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Balois), Elmar Reinders (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij), Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Ludwig De Winter (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) got up the road after more than 50 kilometres of racing.

The peloton, led by Bahrain-Merida, kept the leaders very much in check and they were not allowed much more than four minutes on the pack. Following the first ascent of the Muur, the gap had been cut down by more than half to just under two minutes. While the main GC contenders chose not to do anything, the climb sparked a number of counter attacks but none would get very far.

On the second lap of the finishing loop, Van Keirsbulck would kick on as the breakaway rode up a short rise. He took Irizar and De Vreese with him but would leave them behind when they hit the Muur for the second time. The Belgian would hold a gap of around a minute for several kilometres before eventually going the way of his former companions.

The Muur would prove to be the main action point throughout the stage with the peloton tackling it in full three times before the final, shorter ascent. Each time up it would see the peloton fracture in various shapes and sizes, but most would eventually be able to make it back to the leading group. Once again, Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) would be one of the key aggressors, along with Stybar who jumped clear of the bunch almost as soon as the road rose upwards.

Mohoric struggled to match the explosiveness of the Classics riders but he used the flat sections and descents to haul his way back up every time he was dropped. Inside the final 30 kilometres, a group of riders that included Stybar, Wellens, Naesen, Matthews and Michael Valgren – who was on a neutral service bike after an earlier mechanical, had distanced Mohoric, who was doing his all to make it back.

Naesen attacked his group with under 20 kilometres remaining as it reeled in Paul Martens (LottoNL-Jumbo), who had gone on an earlier attack. As he charged on, the group behind him reformed to make a much larger chase of around 30 riders. Attacks came from all quarters but nobody had enough to make a significant difference and Naesen would be brought back on the penultimate climb after another stinging attack from Stybar.

It had all come back together just before the flamme rouge with Mohoric moving himself to the front of the peloton. He pulled out a small advantage at the foot of the Muur but slipped back as the attacks came. Matthews timed his to perfection, taking the victory by a clear margin with Mohoric holding on for the overall win.

Results :
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 4:38:36
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
3 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:03
4 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
6 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
8 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
9 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky
10 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:07
11 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:09
12 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:11
13 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:13
14 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:16
15 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
16 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:18
17 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:23
18 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:00:28
19 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
20 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:31
21 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
22 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
23 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
24 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:36
25 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
26 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
27 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:39
28 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
29 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:45
30 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:52
31 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:54
32 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:11
33 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
34 Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo
35 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
36 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
37 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
38 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
39 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:28
40 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:57
41 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:06
42 Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:02:11
43 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:17
44 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:03:43
45 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:49
46 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
47 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:04:25
48 Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:04:55
49 Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
50 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
51 Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:04:58
52 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
53 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
54 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
55 Senne Leysen (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
56 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:01
57 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:04
58 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:05:08
59 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
60 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
61 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
62 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
63 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:12
64 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
65 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
66 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:05:22
67 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
68 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
69 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:25
70 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:28
71 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
72 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:05:40
73 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
74 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:10:03
75 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
76 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:10:08
77 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
78 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:25
79 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:34
80 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:14:34
81 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
82 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Sky
83 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
84 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
85 Kevyn Ista (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
86 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
87 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
88 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
89 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott
90 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
DNF Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Dries De Bondt (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Lukas Spengler (Swi) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
DNF Stijn Steels (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
DNF Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
DNF Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
DNF Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
DNF Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Florian Senechal (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
DNS Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
DNS Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNS Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data

Final General Classification :
1 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 25:13:01
2 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:05
3 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20
4 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:25
5 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:34
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:37
7 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:39
8 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:43
9 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
10 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:50
11 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:55
12 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:57
13 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:59
14 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:06
15 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:08
16 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:10
17 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:17
18 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:22
19 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:24
20 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:01:26
21 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:01:29
22 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:32
23 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:45
24 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:01:48
25 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
26 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:51
27 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:26
28 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:03:47
29 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:04:12
30 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:04:39
31 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:05:57
32 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:14
33 Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:06:18
34 Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:06:22
35 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:06:26
36 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:07:23
37 Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:08:14
38 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:09:26
39 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:09:54
40 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:11:50
41 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:11:51
42 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:12:12
43 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:31
44 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:47
45 Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:14:40
46 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:14:57
47 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:15:32
48 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:15:45
49 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:12
50 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:16:15
51 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:18
52 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:17:22
53 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:17:27
54 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:17:36
55 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:18:54
56 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:19:03
57 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:32
58 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:19:41
59 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:20:01
60 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:20:13
61 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:15
62 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:20:35
63 Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:21:17
64 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:22:18
65 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:24:40
66 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:24:55
67 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:05
68 Senne Leysen (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:25:14
69 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates 0:25:21
70 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
71 Kevyn Ista (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:25:47
72 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:25:49
73 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:25:51
74 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:54
75 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:27:05
76 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:29:38
77 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:29:41
78 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team 0:31:13
79 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:31:28
80 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:31:49
81 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:33:09
82 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij 0:33:10
83 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Sky 0:33:54
84 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:34:25
85 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:34:32
86 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:34:57
87 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:35:14
88 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:36:35
89 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott 0:37:36
90 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic 0:43:34