Yesterday Tom Van Asbroeck took a great win for Topsport Vlaanderen in the fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie. Today the team almost made it two in a row when Yves Lampaert finished second in the queen stage.
Topsport Vlaanderen may have been up against 11 WorldTour teams in the Tour de Wallonie but the small Belgian squad punched about it weight in the 5-day Tour. Yesterday Tom Van Asbroeck won the fourth stage and today Yves Lampaert did a long sprint that almost gave him the win in the queen stage.
Just before the line he was passed by Gianni Meersman but that couldn't dampen the spirit in the Topsport camp. In addition to the good stage results, Van Asbroeck and Zico Waeytens finished in the overall top 5, the team won the teams classification and Waeytens took the win in the sprints competition.
"I launched my sprint early because I was too far bac, at least 300 meters from the line," Lampaert told Directvelo. "The last 50 meters were too much for me. Meersman passed me, he was too strong.
"Before the stage, I said I would not survive in this stage. But I felt really good today, as yesterday and the day before yesterday. I could go with the best. When I saw the sign for the last 10 kilometers, I told myself that I could not crack.
"In the sprint, I still felt strong. It's just a shame that I was placed a little too farback . The fact that there were four kilometers from the top of the Côte d'Ans to the finish were good for me. It allowed me to recover and relax my legs. I needed it as an uphill finish would have been too hard for me.
"I'm pretty satisfied. I had a good Tour de Wallonie. Yesterday I felt a little worse but I rode for the team and Waytens. The team did a great Tour, with a stage win, and two riders in the overall top 5. As a team we can be happy."
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