"I was pretty sure of my victory, but suddenly I saw Sam Bennett appear" - Warre Vangheluwe describes nail-biting 4 Jours de Dunkerque stage final
Cycling
Warre Vangheluwe recorded his first professional victory in a daily breakaway of 4 Jours de Dunkerque stage 4, where he was the strongest of the front group and in the final managed to narrowly hold off sprinting Sam Bennett.
Until now, 22-year-old Vangheluwe's best professional result had been 6th from Elfstedenronde Brugge (1.1) two weeks ago. However Vangheluwe made a strong impression in his last year as U23 rider, when he won the Youngster Coast Challenge with his typical late attack when he out-sprinted another Belgian talent - Lotto Dstny's Alec Segaert.
"It was an incredible final," Vangheluwe tells Het Nieuwsblad after his surprising victory. "It was taking risks to get the win. It was an exciting stage until the end. We attacked quite early in the race with six riders. Ultimately, four of those remained in the final lap. In the last kilometer, Alexis Gougeard went for his chance. I pulled towards him and was able to keep him behind me."
However, in the final meters things almost seemed to go wrong for the Belgian. "I was pretty sure of my victory, but suddenly I saw Sam Bennett appear. And then I had to wait anxiously to see whether I had actually won. I came to 4 Jours de Dunkerque especially for this cobblestone stage with the aim of showing myself in it. If I could also win that stage, that would have been great."
While Vangheluwe's win is a big boost for the team, Soudal - Quick-Step saw Kasper Asgreen crash for the second time in the race early on in today's stage. The Dane was able to continue which means he's still in the contention for stage wins at the weekend, despite GC being ruined by the crash of stage 1 which saw Asgreen lose more than six minutes.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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