Van der Poel grabs bonus seconds, but De Lie snatches Renewi Tour stage and overall win

After the battle of Geraardsbergen, where Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won but Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) took the lead in the GC, Saturday's stage was fairly straightforward. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the bunch sprint, but it would be the calm before the storm: the final stage around Leuven largely followed the 2021 World Championship course. That should be a nice backdrop for the battle for the GC, where Van der Poel was just one second behind De Lie.

Immediately, the riders climbed the Wijnpers, with the Keizersberg behind them. These would be the decisive climbs later in the race, but in the opening phase, it was still up to the attackers. Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike) went for it, and he was joined by Kasper Asgreen (EF Education - EasyPost), Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise), and Aivaras Mikutis (Tudor). A strong quartet, but they had no chance against the approaching pack.

Halfway through the race, their lead was less than two minutes, and it continued to dwindle. At that point, the race was outside Leuven, but with about 60 kilometers to go, they would enter the city to complete several laps. At that point, our early breakaway riders had only a 30-second lead: Movistar, XDS-Astana, and Alpecin-Deceuninck, among others, were keeping the gap very short.

The first attack came from the Astana camp: Mike Teunissen made a good move on the Keizersberg. He didn't really escape, but it did spell the end of the breakaway. It also led to the attack by Alberto Bettiol on the Wijnpers. The Italian gave it a huge burst of speed and was later joined by Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious).

However, Groupama-FDJ managed to close the gap again. It was then up to Unibet Tietema Rockets: Axel Huens made his move, and Davide Ballerini followed him. The pair gained more margin and soon had a 25-second lead. That was the moment Lidl-Trek took responsibility. Not for long: on the Wijnpers, Van der Poel attacked. This acceleration allowed an elite group to break away from the pack.

It put leader De Lie under pressure, and Wellens, who had an unfortunate bike change at a bad moment, was also behind. About 15 riders were with them, including Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), and Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek). De Lie eventually caught up, albeit as the last man. Tibor Del Grosso, Van der Poel's teammate, was also there.

Ballerini dropped Huens and continued solo. Behind him, UAE Team Emirates - XRG managed to maintain control and catch the chasers. The team pushed hard on the Keizersberg, but no split was forced. However, Ballerini was caught. It was now a matter of waiting for the green kilometer, where bonus seconds could be earned. Van der Poel clearly had the best legs there: he took 3 seconds in the first sprint, and De Lie only 1.

In the second sprint, some other riders grabbed bonus seconds, as they did in the third sprint. This meant that the Dutchman had taken the virtual lead. Bettiol, Wellens, and Van der Poel had suddenly opened up a big gap together with Wright and Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), allowing them to take advantage of an opportunity. Wright couldn't keep up, so the four remaining riders continued.

Lotto saw what was at stake and kept up the pace. Soudal Quick-Step and Picnic PostNL also contributed, but you can't catch such classy riders just like that, especially not on a course with so many twists and turns. With one lap to go, the lead was around 10 seconds. Wellens made a solo attempt, but Van der Poel closed the gap. Skujins paid the price for his effort, and the remaining trio was caught shortly afterwards.

So it was a full peloton going into the final. De Lie, who had virtually lost his leader's jersey, was in control. An attack by Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) came to nothing, but on the Leopold Decouxlaan, a small group broke away: Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) was joined by Paul Magnier (Sodual Quick-Step) and Stuyven. Thibau Nys, Dewulf, and Madouas also managed to get across.

At the foot of the final Wijnpers, the peloton caught up again, but Magnier pushed on. Nys was the only one who could really keep up, but the pack was not far behind. In the aftermath of that climb, everything came back together. Well, everything: a group of about 30 riders had broken away. Wellens chose his moment and pushed hard, but Van der Poel closed the gap himself. Were we going to get a sprint after all? Visma | Lease a Bike picked up the pace for Olav Kooij.

A sprint seemed to be the outcome after a nervous and grueling day. The riders could still earn bonus seconds, giving De Lie another chance. Del Grosso took the lead-out role for Van der Poel, but Dries De Bondt came out of nowhere. The Belgian from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale took off under the banner, but was caught in the final meters by De Lie, who narrowly beat Van der Poel and snatched the overall victory.