Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 19, 2020

Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 4 – Blegny – Erezée : 199,4 km

The 2020 VOO–Tour de Wallonie is a four-stage men’s professional road cycling race mainly held in the Belgian region of Wallonia. It is a 2.Pro race as part of the 2020 UCI Europe Tour and the inaugural 2020 UCI ProSeries. It is the forty-seventh edition of the Tour de Wallonie, starting on 16 August in Soignies and finishing on 19 August in Erezée. It was originally scheduled for 27 – 31 July, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to mid-August after the UCI’s May calendar update and was shortened from five stages like in years prior to four stages.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) sealed overall victory at the Tour de Wallonie, taking victory on the final stage 4 on the uphill finish in Erezée ahead of Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal).

Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) finished third, taking second place on the final general classification to go with it.

Démare had withstood heavy pressure in the hilly finale of the stage, with a high pace and several attacks going on the final classified climb of the Côte de Beffe at 8.5km from the finish. He and his teammates stayed calm though, steadily working their way back to the front as Jhonatan Narváez (Team Ineos) slipped away alone on descent.

The Ecuadorian’s effort was a valiant one but Groupama-FDJ and AG2R La Mondiale put in the work to bring him back in the final kilometre and set up a sprint on the rise to the line.

As Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) led the way for Clément Venturini, it was Démare and Gilbert who reacted first to launch the sprint. Gilbert initially looked to have the best of the Frenchman but Démare’s pure sprint speed was enough to come out of wheel and take victory.

The GC win is the 65th of Démare’s career, his fourth since the restart along with two stages in Wallonie and Milano-Torino. After the finish he could be heard asking his teammates if they could do the same on Sunday for the French National Championships, a title he has taken twice before. Later in the season he’s set to head to Italy for a return to the Giro d’Italia.

How it unfolded

The final stage of the Tour de Wallonie, a hilly 199.4km run from Blegny, east of Liège, to Erezée, would see a total of seven categorised climbs on the route, and plenty more besides. The 1.6km, 8.7 per cent Côte de Beffe, 8.5km from the finish, and an uphill finish, would see the general classification decided once and for all.

A high speed characterised the early stages of the day, with two intermediate sprints inside 47km and GC contenders keen to grab some bonus seconds. Van Avermaet took the first ahead of Narváez, while a break made it away before the second sprint.

Deceuninck-QuickStep had attempted to place multiple men out front but settled for Zdenek Štybar making the move. He was joined by Jens Reynders (Hagens Berman Axeon), Scott Thwaites (Alpecin-Fenix), Andreas Kron (Riwal Readynez), Stan Dewulf (Lotto Soudal) and the Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles duo of Tom Paquot and Lionel Teminiaux.

The seven-man group stretched their lead to almost three minutes over the rolling hills through the middle of the stage, as CCC Team worked at the head of the peloton behind. AG2R La Mondiale and Team Ineos also helped with the pace making, while Paquot, third in the mountain rankings, grabbed as many KOM points as he could get.

Taminiaux was the first man to drop from the break, 60km from the line, while the peloton had begun to close the gap to within two minutes. At the first ascent of the first-category Côte de Beffe, with 41km left to race, the break split as Štybar, Dewulf and Kron pushed on together, leaving Paquot short of his KOM goal with two climbs remaining.

The lead trio held an advantage of a minute as they crossed the line for the first time, 32km out. Meanwhile, KOM leader Michal Gołas (Team Ineos) and Dylan Sunderland (NTT Pro Cycling) were chasing in between at 20 seconds down eventually making the junction at the 23km mark.

Team CCC, Bahrain McLaren and Team Ineos worked together in the peloton to bring the break back just before the final ascent of Beffe, 10km from the line. The hill saw race leader Démare in trouble as defending race champion Loïc Vliegen (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Jelle Vanendert (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles), Narváez and Van Avermaet drove the pace up front.

Narváez attacked on the descent, while the eight-man elite group that had formed behind him were soon brought back after failing to work together. Groupama-FDJ, with Démare back at the front of the peloton, drove to try and catch Narváez and secure victory for their leader.

The Ecuadorian had done a stellar job out front alone, holding a 15-second gap into the final two kilometers, and held out until the 450-metre mark before being caught.

AG2R La Mondiale were looking for one last result, pulling the peloton towards the line, and it was Naesen who led out into the closing metres for his sprinter Venturini. Démare and Gilbert were the quickest to react as the sprint started though, with the Frenchman getting the better of the veteran Belgian to take his second win of the race and secure overall victory.

Results :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 4:51:33
2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
4 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
5 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
7 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
8 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
9 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:04
10 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
11 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:05
12 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
13 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
14 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
15 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
16 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
17 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
18 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
19 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
20 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
21 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
22 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
23 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
24 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
25 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
26 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
27 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:00:24
28 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:27
29 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:31
30 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:38
31 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:44
32 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 0:01:00
33 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:04
34 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:24
35 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
36 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:44
37 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:02:05
38 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:02:24
39 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
40 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
41 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez
42 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
43 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
44 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
45 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
46 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
47 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
48 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
49 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
50 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
51 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
52 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep
53 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
54 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
55 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
56 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
57 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
58 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
59 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:02:50
60 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team 0:03:01
61 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:03:22
62 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:48
63 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions
64 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
65 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
66 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
67 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
68 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez
69 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
70 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
71 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:04:05
72 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:08
73 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
74 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:04:43
75 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:05:19
76 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos
77 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
78 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
79 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
80 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH
81 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
82 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:22
83 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:33
84 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:06:29
85 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions
86 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
87 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
88 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
89 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
90 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
91 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
92 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
93 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez
94 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
95 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal
96 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
97 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
98 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
99 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
100 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
101 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
102 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
103 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
104 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:07:35
105 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:07:51
106 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:07:56
107 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:09:40
108 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
109 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:09:55
110 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
111 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:12:27
112 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
113 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB
114 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:13:40
115 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
116 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
117 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
118 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
119 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
120 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
121 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
122 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:18:58
123 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal

Final General Classification :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 17:48:51
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:20
3 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:25
4 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:26
5 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:27
6 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
7 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos 0:00:30
9 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:31
10 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:32
11 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
12 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
13 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
14 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
15 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
17 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
18 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
19 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
20 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
21 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
22 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
23 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:39
24 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:54
25 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:58
26 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:05
27 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 0:01:27
28 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:31
29 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:50
30 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:51
31 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:11
32 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:18
33 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:51
34 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
35 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team 0:03:26
36 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:30
37 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale 0:03:55
38 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
39 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
40 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
41 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:04:03
42 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:04:13
43 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:04:34
44 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:57
45 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
46 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:05:09
47 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:05:19
48 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:05:24
49 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
50 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB 0:05:25
51 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:38
52 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez 0:06:41
53 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
54 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:06:56
55 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:11
56 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:07:30
57 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:07:41
58 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:08:05
59 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:09:25
60 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos 0:09:36
61 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:09:45
62 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
63 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:09:50
64 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:10:33
65 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:10:46
66 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
67 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
68 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:11:11
69 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:11:22
70 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:39
71 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:11:41
72 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:11:52
73 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:13:35
74 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:13:41
75 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team 0:13:50
76 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:14:42
77 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:15:48
78 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:15:49
79 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:15:57
80 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions 0:16:49
81 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:17:00
82 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:17:09
83 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:18:20
84 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
85 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:18:56
86 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:19:00
87 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:19:20
88 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:19:26
89 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:19:30
90 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
91 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:19:49
92 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:09
93 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team 0:20:31
94 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:20:52
95 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:21:15
96 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:22:16
97 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:22:29
98 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:22:37
99 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:22:41
100 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:22:56
101 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:23:38
102 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:23:47
103 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:24:48
104 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling 0:24:49
105 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:24:57
106 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:25:28
107 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:25:58
108 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling 0:26:05
109 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:26:30
110 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:26:41
111 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
112 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:27:56
113 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:28:57
114 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:29:40
115 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:31:52
116 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:33:16
117 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:33:53
118 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:34:03
119 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:34:27
120 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:35:26
121 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:36:49
122 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:42:42
123 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:46:24