For the second day in a row, French champion Arnaud Démare proved to be faster than Tom Boonen and the rest of the peloton in the Baloise Belgium Tour. Today he beat Boonen in the penultimate stage of the race.

"Today was a tough stage," Demare told Het Nieuwsblad. "First there was the early break and then one failure attack followed after the other in the finale. It was not easy to keep things together, but in the end the team managed to do seo. Therefore I can do nothing but thank my teammates for this win.

"150 meters from the finish I knew my second win was a fact. With this second victory a big weight has been taken off my shoulders. Yesterday was already nice but now it is a big relief. Tomorrow's stage is nothing for me, it is too hard. That's more for the light climbers, not for riders with my stature. It weill not a three in a row. I already know that. But I can go home satisfied with two stage victories."