Warre Vangheluwe wins stage 3 of 4 Jours de Dunkerque from breakaway but needs photo-finish against Sam Bennett's sprint
Cycling
The finale of the third stage of 4 Jours de Dunkerque was just about one of the most dramatic of the entire year. Warre Vangheluwe won from the breakaway, but the photo-finish was required as the Soudal - Quick-Step rider was caught mid-sprint and his victory was only confirmed in the photo-finish.
The breakaway of the day was formed with six riders jumping up the road. Alexis Gougeard, Samuel Leroux, Axel Narbonne Zuccarelli, Szymon Sajnok, Warre Vangheluwe and Tomas Kopecky. The breakaway carried slight chances as the riders passed through several cobbled sectors on the day.
These would see intense fights for positioning in the peloton which would cut the gap, but afterwards there would be some chaos and a few sprinters that didn't have their day. This led the peloton to have a few lulls which where used by the front riders to keep their gap. Not a simple situation for the peloton where Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale took a lot of the responsibility due to double-stage winner and race leader Sam Bennett.
The five-lap circuit featured three cobbled sectors and could be an important day for the overall classification under the right circumstances. In the final 30 kilometers a few attacks started to come off the front of the peloton, but the pace never slowed down as there were no climbs and the breakaway still maintained a lead that allowed them to dream.
Into the final 10 kilometers Gougeard, Vangheluwe, Leroux and Kopecky survived with almost 30 seconds of lead. In the final cobbled sector with 9 kilometers to go Kopecky made a move off the front but was ultimately caught. The quartet remained untied until 1.5 kilometers to go when Alexis Gougeard attacked, koined by Vangheluwe shortly after. The Belgian began his sprint early on to try and avoid the peloton.
What followed was an almost unbelievable sight. Vangheluwe celebrated but it looked like he had lost the victory on the line to Sam Bennett who also celebrated. However after seeing the photo-finish, the Belgian was crowned the victory: whilst Corbin Strong finished third on the day.
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- The guy has changed teams so often they are not sure what one is currently his.Cyclingsbestfan25-03-2025
- Do you honestly not have a picture of Ewan in his correct team kit?JoBro25-03-2025
- that sounds right. at Roubaix, any of the strong riders who has better luck than the other elites can win. not the case at flanders, where THE strongest almost always wins. (which means rvv will be either tadej or mathieu.)OCexile25-03-2025
- Yes try riding same distances as themen as courses as hard. No point wanting same money if you are not putting the miles and same work in.paultryan200225-03-2025
- Come on, shorter stages, easier stages, less stages, easier one day races, shorter one day races, far lesser competition, slower speed, lack of bike handling skills and strategy … you can demand equality where it is due.. but that is rather not the case here. The men’s race was 20x more entertaining, so receiving 10x less is rather fair.
UltimateOpportunist25-03-2025 - this is officially the stupidest article i’ve ever read about cycling, or maybe anything else. i want those 2 minutes of my life back…OCexile25-03-2025
- I agree, this article is silly. Pogacar won that TdF because he was stronger than Roglic on the time trial not because he was unknown. Each rider has their own strengths and ride to those. Each of the classics and monuments have their own unique features that the riders must strategize.GB25-03-2025
- Yes, I think he still has a lot to say in road cycling. In the CX races he showed a very good gear but... the problem was essentially his NERVOUSNESS then he took bad decisions in finding the best strategies and paths. He needs confidence (calm down) and maybe a very good preparation gave him that.
maria2024202425-03-2025 - I don't believe so sadly, much as pulling another rider into that group I think Tadej and MVDP have raised the game so far they are essentially untouchable. The spoils of this season will be split between them, I believe Tadej will take RVV, LBL and Lombardia, MVDP MSR and Roubaix. I'm not even sure Remco will be at their level when he comes back. Tadej and MVDP are just a step above everyone elseslappers6625-03-2025
- Tadej and MVDP bring that panache back to cycling that we missed right through the Armstrong years, the Sky years and to an extent the couple of Visma tour wins. Whole team blocking a race, no attacking, no excitement till the leaders jumped away in KMslappers6625-03-2025