This Saturday, Quinten Hermans concluded an incredible performance of the team by winning the queen stage of the Belgium Tour, which was ridden on a circuit of 44 kilometer around Durbuy and has to be accomplished four times.
It was on the second passage of the Mur de Durbuy, with over 90 kilometer to race, that the World Team accelerated and exploded the peloton under the impetus of Sven Erik Bystrøm.
Lorenzo Rota and Quinten Hermans then took the lead on the Côte de la Petite Somme, isolating themselves with a group of six riders. These six men absorbed the early breakaway and resisted to the chase, starting the last lap with an advantage of 30 seconds on a small peloton including Loïc Vliegen.
In the heat, the group of Rota and Hermans won the battle with the pursuit. The Belgian rider won the three intermediate sprints included in the ‘Golden Kilometer’ and won nine bonus seconds.
In the end, the six riders started the Mur de Durbuy together to battle for the stage win. Hermans was launched by Rota and was victorious on the top, taking the fourteenth success of the season for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux.
It is the second professional victory for Quinten Hermans, his first one in the colors of the Walloon team. Thanks to his performance, he climbs to third place in GC just ahead of his teammate Lorenzo Rota, who was also fourth in the stage.
« This victory means a lot to me, because my last win on the road was four years ago already, in the Tour of Wallonia. I'm happy to finish it off today after getting close to the victory several times this season. It is not only a nice reward for me, but also for the team. All my teammates did a great job today and I benefited from the extensive presence of the staff, we had fresh water and ice at our disposal at every moment. » « We wanted one of our well positioned riders in GC to join a breakaway to put pressure on the peloton. But the other teams didn't let go so we had to execute plan B. Halfway through the race, we accelerated full and it turned out well. Lorenzo Rota was very important in the leading group, he's incredibly strong. Thanks to the information of the team directors, I knew that it would be difficult to take the lead in thee classification, but I managed to win bonus seconds without spending too much energy. I know how precious these seconds can be, as I once finished second in the Tour of Wallonia, in the same time as the winner... » « So I mainly focused on the stage win and the final climb. I chose the right moment to start my last effort on the Mur de Durbuy, knowing that I can produce a strong 20-30 seconds effort. Adding a stage in the Belgium Tour to my palmares makes me proud and I'm happy to offer the team this succes. I'm grateful for the opportunities they give me and that's why I'm motivated to work for our collective goals, for example in the sprint for Gerben Thijssen two days ago. »
