The Dutchman Mike Teunissen, who celebrated his anniversary this Friday 25th of August, won the third stage of the Renewi Tour. The stage towards Geraardsbergen was considered the queen stage of this World Tour event, which returned to the calendar for the first time since 2021.
He brilliantly concluded a tactically perfect race of Team Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, after Arne Marit joined the early breakaway in his home region in the Flemish Ardennes.
The riders had to cover the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the Bosberg and the Denderoordstraat two times before battling for the stage win on the cobbles in Geraardsbergen after 171 kilometer of racing.
It was after the first passage of the Bosberg, with more than 50 kilometer to go, that Teunissen attacked from the peloton with seven other riders and joined the breakaway of Marit.
Thanks to this anticipation strategy, Teunissen was able to follow a group of eight strong riders on the second time Muur van Geraardsbergen.
The Dutchman followed this new leading group, battling with an advantage of less than 30 seconds on the chasing peloton, until he made a decisive attack just before the red flag and defeated his competitors.
With this success, Teunissen took the sixteenth victory of Team Intermarché-Circus-Wanty this season and the second one for the Walloon team in this race, two years after Taco van der Hoorn triumphed from the early breakaway in Hoogerheide.
"This third stage of the Renewi Tour was not the most relaxed way to celebrate my 31st birthday, but it was definitely a day on the bike with friends and colleagues to remember! I'm getting old, but apparently not worn out yet. I chose to anticipate the attack of the favourites and it eventually turned out the be the right decision. My competitors were fresher than me in the final and I gambled. I was rewarded with the victory, a fantastic birthday present!"
