Team Katusha’s Russian rider Sergey Lagutin took third place in the final general classification of the Belgian 2.HC stage race Tour de Wallonie which ended today in Thuin.

In the last stage of the race (Chimay – Thuin, 167,3 km) with four passages of the Mur de Thuin, Sergey Lagutin finished 7th in the leading group, and this result was enough to take a podium place in the overall classification.

"I am happy with this result. I feel quite good, my form is increasing step by step, so I wanted to show myself in this race. I thank my teammates for their great support, both today and during previous stages. The stage was not easy, all the way up and down with a strong crosswind. But we were able to keep the race under control. In the final I wanted to fight for the stage too, but on the last climb it was a big mess. Anyway, I am happy I was able to bring the result my team was waiting for. My next goal is Tour de Pologne where I would like to fight for another strong performance," said Sergey Lagutin.

"We knew that Sergey had a very good chance for the final podium, which is why the whole team supported him during the stage. I was really happy to see how all the guys gave their best to help the team’s leader in this race. Katusha showed a great team spirit. The race was quite nervous and fast, especially on the last few climbs. Before the final passage of the Mur de Thuin, the guys brought Sergey to the front, while later he was strong enough to finish in the leading group. The final podium in the Tour de Wallonie is a very good result, but our main races are ahead," added Katusha’s sports directorGennady Mikhaylov.

The winner of the 5th stage after a solo attack on the Mur de Thuin was Danny Van Poppel from Trek Factory Racing. The chasing group with Sergey Lagutin finished 3 seconds behind the winner.  Philippe Gilbert from BMC was 2nd, while Matti Breschel from Tinkoff-Saxo was third. Sergey Lagutin was 7th.

The overall winner of the Tour de Wallonie was Niki Terpstra from Etixx – Quick Step. Second place on the podium went to Victor Campenaerts from Topsport Vlaanderen (+0.22). Sergey Lagutin completed the final podium with third place (+0.36).