Philipsen reclaims Renewi Tour lead with sprint win on penultimate stage

· Sports BELNLD

Jasper Philipsen has retaken the Renewi Tour overall lead after narrowly outsprinting Olav Kooij in a chaotic mass finish to win the fourth stage between Riemst and Bilzen-Hoeselt on Saturday, edging his Dutch rival by a tyre's width just as he had in the opening stage.

The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider recovered the leader's jersey from compatriot Jenno Berckmoes, who had seized it the previous day, and now holds a four-second advantage over Berckmoes with Kooij a further six seconds back heading into Sunday's 183.7-kilometre finale looping through Flemish Brabant from Leuven. Alessandro Borgo finished third and Dylan Groenewegen fourth, while Lidl-Trek were forced to race without leader Jonathan Milan after a heavy crash earlier in the stage. A six-man breakaway, featuring Toms Skujins, was reduced to Kamil Malecki and Aivaras Mikutis before being swept up 20 kilometres from the line despite a late attack by Søren Kragh Andersen.

Story development

  1. Philipsen reclaims Renewi Tour lead with sprint win on penultimate stage
  2. Philipsen wins Renewi Tour stage two and takes overall lead after Milan crashes

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