More crashes mar the Queen Stage of the Renewi Tour, where a Lotto Intermarché upset steals the day

Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché) claimed victory in the queen stage of the Renewi Tour in Geraardsbergen. The puncher came out on top after a long two-man breakaway with Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious and is now the new race leader.

The day began with riders licking their wounds after Thursday’s massive crash. Jonathan Milan did give it a try, but he hit the brakes pretty quickly. Lead-out rider Simone Consonni did not start the race due to symptoms of a concussion, while Taco van der Hoorn (broken bones in his hand), Corbin Strong (dislocated shoulder), and Kasper Asgreen (shoulder injury) also withdrew from the race.

Shortly after the start, there was another incident in what is the most dangerous WorldTour race—based on the number of crashes—there is. Jonas Geens (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets), Loe van Belle, Pietro Mattio, Ouwain Doull (Visma | Lease a Bike), Albert Torres, Davide Formolo, Manlio Moro (Movistar), Filippo Baroncini (UAE), and Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) were all reported to have crashed.

Meanwhile, a breakaway group had formed consisting of Julius Johansen (UAE), Michiel Lambrecht (Flanders Baloise), and Frederik Frison (Pinarello-Q36.5), prompting a response from Visma | Lease a Bike in the pre-final. They sent Menno Huising and Niklas Behrens (Visma | Lease a Bike) into the fray, but in the end, it all came down to a photo finish on the final ascents of the Muur.

With 34 kilometers to go, the peloton split—unfortunately, due to yet another crash. Magnus Sheffield (Netcompany INEOS), Tiesj Benoot, Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), Biniam Girmay (NSN), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), Huub Artz (Lotto-Intermarché), and Huising were involved, creating a gap just before the Muur.

Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious) and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché) took advantage of the chaos and broke away as a duo. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider Laurence Pithie launched a counterattack, while the peloton behind hesitated. At one point, they had a three-quarters-minute lead, but eventually the peloton picked up the pace. Meanwhile, Pithie was dropped.

On the penultimate climb, the main pack really picked up the pace, led by Unibet Rose Rockets rider Tomas Kopecky. This set the stage for an exciting finish, especially since some teams in the chasing group still sensed a chance to win. Berckmoes wanted to take the initiative and went on the attack, which earned him the victory. Race leader Jasper Philipsen finished second after a long effort by Arnaud De Lie, ahead of Olav Kooij and De Lie.