Disaster day for Visma in Dunkirk: leader Zingle drops out, Watson (INEOS) pulls off double in queen stage

While Visma | Lease a Bike has yet to find success in the Giro d’Italia, things had gone much better in the Four Days of Dunkirk. Axel Zingle won the opening stage and held onto the leader’s jersey through the next stages. But the real test came on Saturday, with a tough hilly stage. The local circuit in Cassel featured three climbs — two of them cobbled. A proper treat for the fans!

A breakaway of four riders escaped from the start in La Chapelle d'Armentières: Fabian Lienhard (Tudor), Matis Louvel (Israel Premier Tech), Tom Portsmouth (Wagner Bazin), and Paul Hennequin (Euskaltel). They built up a decent gap, but the local circuit started with 120 kilometers to go, making things hard early on — and this terrain wasn’t exactly suited for a long breakaway. Though they began with a five-minute lead, it quickly shrank in the final.

With 60 kilometers to go, the lead for Louvel and Portsmouth (the last remaining escapees) was down to one minute. At that point, the peloton lit things up. Lewis Askey and Pierre Gautherat, the winners of Thursday and Friday’s stages, launched attacks. They didn’t get away, but it signaled that the battle for the overall win had begun in earnest.

The breakaway was caught with 45 kilometers to go, and then came the calm before the storm. Groupama-FDJ and Visma | Lease a Bike took control of the pace, which wasn’t difficult on such a demanding route. The final climb to the finish, Porte d'Aire, featured gradients up to 15%. Attacks followed, including accelerations from Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers), but no one could make a definitive split — yet.

Swift didn’t get away, but Sam Maisonobe did. The Frenchman from Cofidis broke clear from the thinned-out peloton and built up a lead of about 30 seconds. That’s when the bad news came: Zingle had abandoned the race. What had happened wasn’t immediately clear, as it occurred off-camera, but his team later confirmed he had crashed. It turned the race on its head — there would be a new race leader for sure!

Swift, who was fourth overall, seized the opportunity and attacked on a descent. Lucas Beneteau (St Michel) followed, and the pair bridged to Maisonobe. Groupama-FDJ was forced to chase, since Visma had lost its leader and Gautherat was no longer in the front. Askey, one of the top favorites, was now being challenged by his fellow Brit. On the cobbled Rue de Tambour — the second-to-last major climb — the favorites stirred again.

Beneteau was dropped, leaving Maisonobe and Swift to push on together. The cobbled climb had taken its toll, and the chasing group got close. But the cohesion in the chase faltered, and Swift pressed on. The gap went up to about 10 seconds, but the final climb was steep and nasty. It was a tense finale between the Brit and the Frenchman, both fighting hard to stay ahead.

In the final three kilometers, INEOS played their cards well, positioning themselves at the front to disrupt the chase. The tactic worked brilliantly, and the pace slowed significantly. Only Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) managed to jump free and close in on the leaders. Suddenly, the peloton was back in contention. On the final climb, Maisonobe attacked Swift, but was also caught. Sam Watson (INEOS) launched first — and with power — taking the win ahead of Carlos Canal (Movistar) and Askey, who finished just short of taking the jersey. That honor went to Watson, his victorious countryman.