Tour de Wallonie Stage 4: Serry Top Finisher & Terpstra Maintains Leadership Again

Tour de Wallonie Stage 4: Serry Top Finisher & Terpstra Maintains Leadership Again

Etixx - Quick-Step rider Niki Terpstra, current race leader, finished 27th and Pieter Serry finished 25th in the bunch arrival of 164.6km Tour de Wallonie Stage 4, from Waterloo to Quaregnon, on Tuesday. Despite several attacks inside the final 10 kilometers, the race came back together in time for the group sprint.

Jonas Van Genechten (IAM Cycling) won the stage. Michael Morkov (Tinkoff-Saxo) was 2nd, and Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) finished 3rd. 

The stage had a very flat start. However, there were then four climbs close together from kilometer 133 until the 154th kilometer, as part of two local laps. The finish was flat and therefore conducive for the bunch sprint. Four breakaway riders went away, and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) attacked out of that group with 14km remaining. He was caught with 10km to go before the attacks began flying out of the peloton.

Terpstra, who won the opening stage, has been the race leader throughout this edition of Tour de Wallonie. He holds a 16" advantage over Victor Campenaerts (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) and 36" over Sergey Lagutin (Katusha) going into the 5th and final stage of the race. 

The 167.3km 5th Stage on Wednesday, from Chimay to Thuin, is another flatter start with plenty of up-and-down in the final kilometers. There is a three-lap, 12km circuit, and it heavily features Mur de Thuin. Mur de Thuin is climbed four times. This is a potential finale for the Classics style riders, with an uphill finish in Thuin.