He's back! Mathieu van der Poel confirms post-Tour form by out-kicking De Lie & Wellens to impressive stage 3 win at Renewi Tour 2025

Mathieu van der Poel has taken victory ahead of Arnaud De Lie and Tim Wellens in a thrilling, three-way fight on stage 3 at the 2025 Renewi Tour on Friday afternoon.

Stage 3 of the 2025 Renewi Tour saw an early breakaway of eleven riders go clear, with Igor Arrieta, Jensen Plowright, Edoardo Affini, Laurenz Rex, Matevz Govekar, Filip Maciejuk, Johan Jacobs, Max Walscheid, Aaron Gate, Ceriel Desal and Petr Kelemen forming the move. They opened up a small gap of just over a minute, which later stretched to nearly four minutes as the peloton settled into the early flat kilometres.

The day was marked by a series of abandons, with Tim Declercq leaving the race due to illness, Alexis Renard also stepping off, and Fabio Jakobsen climbing off during the opening hills in what has been a difficult season for the sprinter.

The dynamic shifted as the race hit the punchy Belgian climbs. Mathieu van der Poel attacked with around 90 kilometres to go, quickly joined by Van Gils. The pair gained time on the peloton but were still well behind the leaders. Their advantage grew before a larger chasing group bridged across, bringing in riders such as Arnaud De Lie, Tim Wellens, Davide Ballerini, Matej Mohorič, Tibor Del Grosso and Mathias Vacek. Van Gils was dropped and returned to the peloton as the tempo soared.

By 60 kilometres to go, the break’s lead was down to less than a minute, with the chasers breathing down their necks and the peloton only seconds further back. The race was fully fragmented, and as Soudal - Quick-Step joined the chase with young sprinter Paul Magnier, the front group’s advantage shrank to just 15 seconds.

On the cobbled climbs of the final lap, the race exploded once again. Fred Wright forced the pace, thinning the lead group, before Van der Poel struck out with another trademark acceleration. Only Wellens and De Lie could follow initially, while a chasing group containing Del Grosso, Mohorič, Dewulf, Wright and Bettiol trailed at 15 seconds. Rex, Jacobs, Vacek and Laurance formed a second chase 30 seconds further back, with the peloton nearly a minute down.

Van der Poel briefly went clear on his own, but his searing attack eventually proved too much for De Lie and Wellens, who both struggled before clawing their way back. With 21 kilometres to go, the leading trio of Van der Poel, Wellens and De Lie held a narrow 12-second margin over a strong chase group of Del Grosso, Wright, Dewulf and Bettiol, while Mohorič, Rex, Vacek, Laurance and Jacobs were further adrift. The peloton trailed at around 1:40, leaving the stage poised for a fierce finale.

With 10km to go, the trio Van der Poel, Wellens and De Lie had extended their advantage to over 30 seconds at the front of the race. With the gap holding steady, it was looking increasing likely that a three-up sprint would decide the stage. Although Wellens understandably wasn't keen on waiting for the final kicker against two faster finishers, as they passed through the flamme rouge they were all still together.

On the last little kick up towards the finish line, De Lie was the first to go, dropping Wellens in the process. As the line neared however, Van der Poel came powering around to snatch the stage win.