Tom Dernies of Wallonie-Bruxelles is the leader of the KOM competition in the Tour de l’Eurometropole. The Belgian leads the competition with 8 points over Jack Bauer of the Garmin-Sharp team.

And the fact that it is Jack Bauer, who is on the second place in the competition, hasn’t gone past the Belgian rider.

"With the fatigue, it was very hard today. I had only one rider to watch Jack Bauer of Garmin-Sharp. He told me he wanted the shirt. The fight is not over yet, even though I already have a lot of points compared to others. Bauer has tried several times to slip in the breakaway today. This is a rider from another level,” Tom Dernies told Direct Velo.

Tom Dernies found himself in the late-stage crash. It was impossible to avoid for the 23-year old Wallonie-Bruxelles rider.

“When he decides to go, I must counter. It was actually a little relieved when I saw that he was not before. As for me, I had a crew there to defend the jersey. The main thing is that it stays within the team. The final was very fast on a very dangerous circuit. I have also been caught in the fall three kilometers from the finish. We fell into a small street on the dike. Even Adrien Petit, the second overall fell, Dernies said.