Renewi Tour stage 3: Mike Teunissen wins in Geraardsbergen

In the shadow of the famous chapel on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) took the win on the crucial day of the Renewi Tour.

The Dutchman attacked a select group of riders right before the final kilometre up the town streets of Geraardsburgen to take the win ahead of Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and Axel Zingle (Cofidis) after a frantic day of racing around the Flandrian hills.

While Teunissen won the stage, it was Tim Wellens who was the man of the match. On the last time up the critical Muur van Geraardsbergen, Wellens drove the pace and splintered the peloton in the process. While he was able to push on solo to get maximum time bonuses in the green kilometre, he suffered a front flat tire.

Instead of changing it for a new wheel, however, Wellens soldiered on with the lead group and had enough energy to come in second and take the overall lead at the finish.

A Classic in a stage race

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Tim Wellens rode to a second place finish on the stage even though he had a flat tire throughout the finale

Stage 3 of the Renewi Tour was a redux of the Classics-style stage that has defined so many editions of the race in recent years, with the Muur taking centre stage, once again. In a day that would be crucial to decide the overall at the race, the peloton set about the 170km in furious fashion, averaging close to 50kph for the first 120km.

Nevertheless, the race was overshadowed by the news of the death of a young Belgian Tijl De Decker, who was set to join Lotto-Dstny. He died following a collision with a motorist on Wednesday.

Even with the breakneck speed, a rather large break formed at the front and held an advantage of 25 seconds with still 45km of winding, hilly Flemish roads around Geraardsbergen left to race. On the short climb up the Denderoordberg, with 38km to go, UAE upped the pace and bridged over to the breakaway. Behind, leader Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) struggled to match the pace of the quality in the peloton.

Over the top, the race was splintering with the likes of Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step) off the back and a small group including Yves Lampert (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) moving forward. Tarling was ensconced in the peloton just behind the leaders.

A few kilometres later and the race was back onto the Muur for the last full climb, the race continued to splinter with Wellens pushing on at the front over the steepest section of cobbles. Lotto Dstny had multiple riders towards the front of the peloton, but it was Wellens who kept the drive as many of his rivals for the overall were languishing behind. Tarling’s time in the lead, by this point, seemed to be fleeting.

With the all-important green kilometre coming up, Wellens forged on even with a flat front tyre. Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) countered right before the Bosberg and grabbed some of the additional bonus seconds.

With 20km left, there were two groups left to fight for victory, with a small leading group of quality riders and a charging peloton behind. The lead group contained Wright, Teunissen, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Lampaert, Arnaud De Lie and Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny), Axel Zingle and Wellens, still with a flat tyre. The group had about 20 seconds in hand over the peloton into the last 10km, with Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck chasing behind.

With 5km to go the race took on the last climb of the day, the Denderoordberg, and Hirschi hit the front to push the pace in the breakaway, as the peloton snapped at their heels. That surge proved to be enough to keep the leaders out front for the final. On the climb, Lampaert, Teunissen, De Lie and Vermeersch got gapped over the top, as Wellens gamely stayed with the leaders, making it two UAE riders at the front of affairs.

The two groups would weld together again, with De Lie the only rider to not make it back for good. With the finish halfway up the climb in Geraardsbergen, there was still room for attacks to come, even if it looked like the leaders would stay away. In the end, Teunissen made the move a couple of hundred metres before the last kilometre that anticipated the efforts of others and he would not be brought back.

After a couple of down years, the win for the Dutchman, on his birthday no less, was a triumphant return to form for the former Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey wearer. Wellens is now firmly in the GC lead with 23 seconds in hand over Yves Lampaert in second.

If you head to our Renewi Tour landing page, you will find everything you need to know about the race, including our race preview, the route, and start list. Check it out for all that and more.