Etixx - Quick-Step rider Pieter Serry earned a 2nd place at 207km Tour de Wallonie Stage 3, from Bastogne to Namur on Monday.

The race came back together inside the final kilometer after an original five-rider escape group was down to a solo rider ahead. Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) won in the finale with a gap over the rest of the field. Serry was 2nd out of the field sprint, with Thomas Sprengers (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise) 3rd.

Niki Terpstra crossed in 8th place, which preserved his race leadership as he won the opening stage from a two rider breakaway. The preservation of the race lead was far from easy on the longest parcours of the stage race, with 10 total climbs. Etixx - Quick-Step and BMC Racing Team both worked hard at the front to controll the gap during the stage.

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to Stage 4, 164.6km from Waterloo to Quaregnon, on Tuesday. The stage has a very flat start. However, there are then four climbs close together from kilometer 133 until the 154th kilometer, as part of two local laps. The finish is flat, but there is a chance a breakaway stays away or the peloton is reduced.

"I felt that the team was a little tired today after the big job done yesterday," Terpstra told Directvelo. "Despite this, my teammates have worked perfectly all day. Fortunately, in the final, several other teams came to help us to bring the escapees back. Then, at the bottom of the climb, I was ideally positioned and I was able to follow the best without too many problems. 

"Can you already say that I have won the Tour de Wallonie? No, because there are still two stages. But the confidence is there and the team is very strong. We will fight to the end to win this Tour. I think the hardest part is behind us. There is still the stage to Thuin where you have to be very careful."

"It was a tough day, with wind, rain and crashes," sports director Rik Van Slycke told Directvelo. "But in the end, we could keep the yellow jersey so it's great. And Pieter Serry is second so it's even better.

"We will defend the jersey and see how it goes. We can not say we have won before we have done the Mur de Thuin four times. It's not over yet!

"Boonen? You can not go for both the stages and the overall classification. We are seven in the team, so it is not possible. The guys have already spent a lot of energy in the early stages."