Tour de Luxembourg 2022 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

September 17, 2022

Tour de Luxembourg 2022 – Stage 5 – Mersch – Luxembourg : 178,4 km

Luxembourg’s flagship stage-race used to fall just a couple of weeks before the Tour de France, providing those riders with their eyes set on the yellow jersey with a chance to hone their form ahead of the three-week race. The race has since joined the UCI ProSeries calendar however, and in doing so has been moved to a mid-september slot, changing it from a warm-up event to a last-ditch attempt for many riders to secure a contract for the following season. The race may take place in one of Europe’s smallest nations, but that doesn’t stop it from seeking out enough unique terrain for five action-packed stages. A lot of these stages crosscut each other, creating a route map that looks remarkably similar to a spider’s web. The five-day event typically begins with a short prologue before sending the riders on four undulating stages around the country, with the fifth and final stage often taking place on a lumpy circuit around the capital, Luxembourg City. It’s this final stage that often decides the general classification, with the stage winner often taking the overall victory thanks to the bountiful supply of bonus seconds on offer at the finish line.

Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) followed the first victory of his young career on Friday with his first general classification triumph on Saturday, sealing the Tour de Luxembourg title.

The 21-year-old Dane had taken the yellow jersey in Friday’s time trial and he successfully defended it on the punchy final stage to Luxembourg.

Valetin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), winner of the opening stage and the rider Skjelmose had taken the jersey from, claimed the stage victory in a tight four-man sprint for the line.

Skjelmose was present and correct in the home straight, and although he’d marked Madouas to put the overall title beyond the Frenchman, he did have Kevin Vaquelin (Arkea-Samsic) to worry about, who’d started the day second overall just three seconds down.

With bonus seconds of 10-6-4 for the top three, Vaquelin could have snatched the overall with stage victory.

Skjelmose hit out early with a long-range sprint from 250 metres out, but Madouas bided his time before grinding through down the middle of the road.

Vaquelin made good go of it on the left but had to settle for third, followed by Madouas’ teammate Kevin Geniets, while Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) led home the next small group on the road at three seconds.

Skjelmose topped the final overall classification with five seconds in hand over Vaquelin and 17 seconds on Madouas, who moved up onto the final podium at the expense of Sjoerd Bax (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Results :

Final General Classification :