Jasper Philipsen edges Olav Kooij to win Renewi Tour stage 4 and take race lead

The fourth stage of the Renewi Tour was won by Jasper Philipsen. The Alpecin-Premier Tech Belgian proved just strong enough on the tricky uphill finish in Bilzen-Hoeselt, narrowly beating Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) into second place. Philipsen also collected enough bonus seconds with his victory to take the overall leader's jersey from Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché).

What a spectacular three days we had already seen at the Renewi Tour — but they had also come with plenty of danger. Things went badly wrong as early as stage 2, when a huge crash caused chaos, while the queen stage to Geraardsbergen also saw numerous riders hit the ground. Berckmoes avoided the trouble and won the stage, taking the leader's jersey from Philipsen in the process.

A sprint looked the most likely outcome again on day four, this time in Bilzen-Hoeselt. However, the 1,450 metres of elevation gain hidden throughout the course made the stage more deceptive than it first appeared. With several short, sharp climbs and a slightly uphill finish, the sprinters were always likely to come under pressure. To make matters even more complicated, a strong six-man breakaway escaped shortly after the start in Riemst.

Among them was Lionel Taminiaux, wearer of the combativity jersey. The Lotto-Intermarché Belgian was joined by Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek), Axel Huens (Groupama-FDJ) and his teammate Johan Jacobs, Kamil Małecki (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Aivaras Mikutis (Tudor). Every one of them was a powerful rider capable of keeping the pace high, which was precisely why the peloton was unwilling to give the group too much of an advantage.

The breakaway entered the finale with only a small advantage, with the Golden Kilometre — featuring three bonus sprints — still to come. It was touch and go whether they would make it there ahead of the bunch, but they just managed to hold off the peloton. Taminiaux collected the majority of the available bonus seconds in support of team leader and race leader Berckmoes. The break was caught shortly afterwards, at which point Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) launched an attack of his own.

Lidl-Trek had lost Jonathan Milan and therefore had to search for success without their sprinter, but Kragh Andersen was not given much room. Attention then turned to the final 10 kilometres, where another two short climbs awaited. The action really kicked off on the final one, when Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) drove hard at the front before leaving the work to Berckmoes. The race leader latched onto the wheel of Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

The acceleration soon fizzled out, however. Kragh Andersen, meanwhile, was still out in front and continued to power towards the finish. Suddenly, the line was getting very close: had the sprinters left it too late? The gap was not coming down easily. It became a thrilling chase, but the Dane was finally reeled in on the closing roads. Dylan Groenewegen had the best lead-out and hit the front to launch the sprint, but he opened his effort too early. Philipsen came through at the perfect moment and narrowly edged Kooij at the line.