Tony Martin used his strong Omega Pharma-Quick Step team to defend his position as race leader in the first of two hilly weekend stages at the Tour of Belgium. Going into the queen stage, the German feels confident that he will be able to make i three in a row in the Belgian race.

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team already won three stages at Baloise Belgium Tour. At the 184km 4th Stage on Saturday, the main goal was to keep Tony Martin, two-time defending champion of the race, in the red jersey as race leader.

The goal of the day was accomplished. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) won the bunch sprint, with Roman Maikin (RusVelo) 2nd and Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) 3rd. 

The goal, however, was far from easy. OPQS worked hard on the front chasing down the original breakaway, and then neutralizing several late race attacks from riders such as Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling), who are 2nd and 3rd in the GC.

Boonen was the top finisher, in 45th place. He relinquished the points jersey to Gilbert by a point.

OPQS looks next to the final, 178.7km Stage 5 on Sunday. The two-lap stage will be another challenge, as there are six climbs each lap, including the Mur de Huy. The stage descends into the finish.

"I could defend my jersey without any major troubles," he said. "In the final of the three laps of the finishing circuit there were attacks from Dumoulin and Chavanel - my biggest rivals for the overall victory. With my strong teammates, I managed to neutralize it and finish in the same time as stage winner Andre Greipel. I am close to the third overall victory. Tomorrow we have some hard work ahead of us but I am confident that I can defend the jersey.

"After the podium ceremony, press conference and doping control we had 80 minutes of transfer to the hotel but now I can start to recover for tomorrow."