BinckBank Tour 2019 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

August 18, 2019

BinckBank Tour 2019 – Stage 7 – Sint-Pieters-Leeuw – Geraardsbergen : 178,1 km

Nothing comes easy at the BinckBank Tour, and a glance at the palmarès confirms as much. The most recent winners are Matej Mohoric, Tom Dumoulin, Niki Terpstra, Tim Wellens and Zdenek Stybar, and, on each occasion, the race was decided by mere seconds. A constant in the WorldTour since it succeeded the old Tour of the Netherlands in 2005, the BinckBank Tour – formerly the Eneco Tour – is something of a point of confluence in the cycling calendar. In mid-August, WorldTour riders tend to be in one of two camps: recovering from the Tour de France or still feeling their way back into action after missing out on the big show in July. As ever, the race offers a sample of spring Classics terrain, with a short, stiff leg in the Ardennes on stage 4 and then a demanding trek around the cobbles and hills of Flanders on the final day. In between, there is a short, flat time trial in The Hague, while the four flat stages rarely run quite as smoothly as the profile in the roadbook would indicate.

Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma) snatched overall victory at the BinckBank Tour from Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) after going on the attack in the final circuit of the Muur of Geraardsbergen.

De Plus surged away with Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) and Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) just before the cobbled Bosberg climb after the Muur had made a first selection. Wellens was isolated and unable to go with the move, with De Plus also sweeping up seven bonus seconds in the late Golden Kilometre sprints.

De Plus started the stage just 12 seconds down on Wellens and then gave his all in the final, hectic pursuit match to the finish, gaining enough time to win the WorldTour stage race.

Naesen was the strongest on the climb up to the finish on the lower slopes of the Muur, coming past van Avermaet close to the line after his close friend and training partner led out the sprint.

De Plus finished four seconds behind but was 38 seconds ahead of Wellens, who finished in a chase group. That meant De Plus won by 35 seconds, with Naesen also moving up to second place overall. Wellens slipped to a disappointed third place overall at 36 seconds. Van Avermaet moved up to fourth at 37 seconds, with Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) slipping to fifth at 44 seconds.

The 23-year-old De Plus has become a valued stage race domestique since turning professional with QuickStep in 2016 and finally took his first professional at the Binckbank Tour. He movingly dedicated his victory to close friend Bjorg Lambrecht who died recently after crashing at the Tour de Pologne.

“It was a really hard week for me because of what happened to Bjorg,” De Plus explained.

“I was doubting about starting here because he was a good friend. It was some tough days, but I’m happy to honour in some way. He was always on my mind and with me in this race. This is for him.”

Like a Flandrian Classic

The final 178km stage was a like a Flandrian Classic, with three climbs of the Muur and a series of other short, steep climbs, mixed with cobbles and country and town centre roads and corners.

Wellens started the stage under pressure but he and Lotto Soudal were not expected to let victory escape them.

A 15-rider early break forced a high pace and other attacks but the race came back together for the final 25.6km Geraardsbergen lap, as the legendary climb twisted up to the chapel.

Wellens was there but did not react soon after when first Naesen, then De Plus and finally van Avermaet went on the attack. Wellens was perhaps marking second placed Hirschi, with other teams perhaps hoped Deceuninck-QuickStep would lead the chase. However the trio quickly joined forces and worked together to create a gap.

De Plus gave his all and was riding for overall victory, with Naesen and van Avermaet targeting the stage victory and a podium spot. It was a perfect combination, with Naesen going on to win the stage and land his first victory of 2019.

“It’s a relief and I’m very happy because I hadn’t won this year. For a rider like me, it’s painful not to win, so I’m very happy I did it today,” Naesen said with a broad smile.

Wellens had to climb on the final podium with De Plus and Naesen but couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“The goal was to fight for Bjorg of course and go for the stage victory and the overall classification was looking super good this morning,” Wellens said, thinking of his teammate.

“On the final lap it all slipped away when De Plus, Naesen and van Avermaet attacked. I tried to close it but I didn’t have the legs anymore. They worked well together up front and it was difficult to get them back.”

Results :
1 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 3:52:40
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
3 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:04
4 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:00:25
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:26
6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
7 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data 0:00:35
8 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
9 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:38
10 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
11 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First
12 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
13 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
14 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:41
15 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb
16 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
17 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
18 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:46
21 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
22 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
23 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:17
24 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:01:36
25 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:44
26 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
27 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:45
28 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:01:55
29 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:01:57
30 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:02
31 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:04
32 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:41
33 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb
34 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:43
35 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:52
36 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:04:12
37 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:15
38 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:19
39 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:04:23
40 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles
41 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
42 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
43 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
44 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
45 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
46 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb
47 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
48 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
49 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
50 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
51 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos
53 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
54 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
55 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
56 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
57 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Total Direct Energie
58 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team
60 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
61 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Aksel Nõmmela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles
63 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
64 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
65 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
66 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
67 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
68 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
69 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
70 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
71 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
72 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
73 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
74 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
75 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
76 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:04:32
77 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:40
78 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
79 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:43
80 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
81 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
82 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
83 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:04:45
84 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:47
85 Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles
86 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 0:04:52
87 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
88 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:04:56
89 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:58
90 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
91 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
92 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
93 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:00
94 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:09
95 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
96 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
97 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:17
98 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:40
99 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
100 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
101 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
102 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
103 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
104 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:53
DNF Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Brian van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal
DNF Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
DNF Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
DNF Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
DNF Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Lars Bak (Den) Dimension Data
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
DNF Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First
DNF Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
DNF Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNF Angelo Tulik (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie

Final General Classification :
1 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 21:29:55
2 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:35
3 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:37
5 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:00:44
6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:06
7 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:13
8 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:16
9 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:01:19
10 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data 0:01:23
11 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:25
12 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First 0:01:27
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:28
14 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:30
15 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:40
16 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:45
17 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:47
18 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:03:13
19 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:40
20 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:44
21 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:05:21
22 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:05:30
23 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:05:33
24 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:26
25 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:50
26 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:07:03
27 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:07:13
28 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:14
29 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:07:31
30 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:43
31 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:09:28
32 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:09:57
33 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:09:59
34 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:10:05
35 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:08
36 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:20
37 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:26
38 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:15
39 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:11:22
40 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:12:41
41 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:12:43
42 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:13:22
43 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:13:55
44 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:14:01
45 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:14:22
46 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:14:28
47 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:38
48 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:15:03
49 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:15:14
50 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:15:18
51 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team 0:16:02
52 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:11
53 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:16:25
54 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:16:30
55 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:16:49
56 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:16:54
57 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 0:17:48
58 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:17:51
59 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:18:47
60 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:19:04
61 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:19:42
62 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 0:19:44
63 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team 0:19:46
64 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team 0:19:50
65 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:19:56
66 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:20:06
67 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:20:10
68 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:20:12
69 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:20:17
70 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:20:20
71 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Ineos 0:20:23
72 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos 0:20:30
73 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:31
74 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:20:39
75 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:20:43
76 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:20:45
77 Aksel Nõmmela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:20:50
78 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:21:01
79 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:21:04
80 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:21:10
81 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:21:15
82 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:21:58
83 Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles
84 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:22:01
85 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:22:05
86 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:06
87 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:35
88 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:22:44
89 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:31
90 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
91 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:23:46
92 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:24:04
93 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:24:14
94 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 0:24:34
95 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo 0:24:51
96 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:24:56
97 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:25:17
98 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:25:32
99 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:01
100 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:26:12
101 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:26:30
102 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:30:11
103 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:34:32
104 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:37:54