American Riley Sheehan can't hold off De Lie, but is rewarded with Tour of Wallonia race lead

Riley Sheehan rode into the leaders jersey of the Tour of Wallonia on Thursday, despite a bittersweet day that left him ‘disappointed’. The American attacked alone in the finale, built a good gap and looked set to win stage 4 of the Tour of Wallonia. Then came a hard-charging home town hero to take the shine off his day.

Sheehan (NSN Cycling Team) went clear in the closing kilometres of the hilly fourth stage, a 166.7km run from Dison to Eupen. No one could follow. He carried a slim advantage over his general classification rivals as the road climbed to the finish, at the top of the Côte de Frankendelle.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) surged from the chase group and reeled Sheehan in, passing the American on the line. The Belgian collapsed over his handlebars at the finish, spent from the effort. It was his second win of the season, and a release after days of frustration. "This victory gives us a huge amount of confidence," De Lie said.

"You know, I'm a bit disappointed and just in shock. I went so, so deep, and to get passed on the line by De Lie is heartbreaking. It's good to be up there in the fight on GC today. I made some progress today, and I'm proud of the effort," he said.

Second place on the stage, plus the bonus seconds on offer, put Sheehan in the overall lead and the race's distinctive orange jersey. He leads by three seconds from Ben Oliver (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) and De Lie, with Kim Heiduk a further 12 seconds back in fourth.

It caps an eventful week in Belgium. Sheehan punctured inside the final kilometre of Monday's opener. He bounced back to take third in heavy rain on stage two, then lost ground when a large crash split the race late on Wednesday. The orange jersey, in that light, feels like overdue payment.

There is recent history here for his team. Sheehan's teammate Corbin Strong won this race a year ago, and the New Zealander used it as a springboard to overall victory at the Arctic Race of Norway. Sheehan, too, arrives in form: just three weeks ago he claimed his first win in three years at the Circuit de Wallonie, a second professional victory to sit alongside his 2023 Paris-Tours triumph.

"It's good to hear that I'm the leader. Tomorrow is the hardest day, I hope it's not any harder than I went today, but with the team we have, I think we have a good shot at this," he said.

"I really enjoy the parcours here, it's really nice. It suits me well — I'm a punchy rider. If I can win this race it would be fantastic," he added.

His sports director, Dror Pekatch, framed the day as bittersweet but earned.

"He took his shot going for the bonus seconds going on the last climb, and then he held his gap until the finish. He missed out by one meter, basically, so it's bittersweet to take the jersey," Pekatch said.

With one stage left, only seconds separate the top of the table, and intermediate sprints could play a pivotal role. NSN will need to control the race from the front, then close it out. Pekatch believes they have the strength to do exactly that, with seven riders all going well.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]