Lotto Luxembourger blasts to victory in typical Tour de l’Avenir stage with well-timed sprint

After Monday’s reduced bunch sprint of nineteen riders decided the stage, Tuesday’s flat third stage delivered another surprise. The strong Carl-Frederik Bévort attacked from a late breakaway and impressively soloed to victory, holding off the peloton.

Wednesday’s stage was not completely flat either, though the real climbing was only set to come a day later. Over the course of the 110.2 kilometers that the peloton would race, there wasn’t expected to be much time lost. The only climb of the day, the Col de l’Aubépin (4 km at 5.9%), came halfway through. From there, it was rolling terrain leading into the finish in Val-Suran.

From the start there was plenty of interest in the breakaway, with race leader Decomble himself even trying to get involved. The Frenchman didn’t make it, but Hugo Aznar (Spain) and Isak Magnusson (Sweden) did, quickly opening a gap that they gradually extended.

The Irish Jamie Meehan tried to bridge across and brought Dutchman Stef Koning with him. Meehan managed to join, but Koning crashed and had to abandon the Tour de l’Avenir.

Ezra Caudell also changed his mind on behalf of the United States and also tried to cross. That proved quite difficult, as the American dangled between the three in front and the chasing pack for a long time. The pack did not let the leaders get too far ahead, as the lead was never more than two minutes.

Caudell was eventually reeled in, just as the race came alive on the day’s only climb. Aznar attacked, joined by Meehan, with Magnusson also clinging on. Soon Jasper Schoofs (Belgium), Jakob Purtscheller (Austria), and Adam Rafferty (Ireland) bridged across.

At this point, we had six leaders, but it didn’t last long. With 50 kilometers to go, the peloton regrouped. By now it was becoming typical in this year’s Tour de l’Avenir: early fireworks, constant attacking, but but only moderate success in those attacks.

This time it was Fergus Browning (Australia) who tried his luck, building a lead of a full minute with 30 kilometers remaining. Ten kilometers later, though, his advantage had disappeared like snow under a blazing sun, and the race came back together.

The attacks kept coming in rapid succession. With a little over 15 kilometers to go, a group of around twenty riders, including leader Decomble, got a small gap. However, they too were soon reeled in. Despite relentless action, the peloton stayed compact heading to the finish.

Great Britain moved to the front to control the finale for their sprinter Noah Hobbs, hoping to prevent more late attacks. Things looked promising for the EF talent, though French rider Antoine l’Hote still tried one last move, without success. In the sprint, Hobbs got boxed in and couldn’t open up properly. Kockelmann seized the moment and launched perfectly, powering to an impressive stage victory. Decomble held onto yellow.