With a course that looked like a small version of the Tour of Flanders, Fabian Cancellara was naturally one of the favourites for today's stage of the Eneco Tour. However, the Swiss was isolated too early and ended up paying the price.

The three days of mini-Classics began in the Eneco Tour with today's stage five, and the Belgian hills played their expected part in reducing the peloton to a selection of around 30 riders by the finish.

The day’s breakaway also played into the excitement of the finale as two men of the original four escapees held an advantage to the final four kilometers. Once they were swatted aside the race was full gas to the bottom of the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the final climb to the finish line.

Unlike a one-day Classic there were two races on today – for the stage win and for the overall classification – making the tactics and racing very different than in the spring. 

Trek Factory Racing banked its card on a stage result, and Fabian Cancellera was there, in good position, right to the end.  But this is not the spring.  Cancellara is still clawing his way back to his top form, and although his experience and savvy in riding some of the Tour of Flanders’ roads and climbs came to the fore, he missed his normal explosive bullet when it mattered.

Instead it was Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) who shot out of the peloton with less than 800 meters to go to overtake the last protaganist and solo over the line two seconds ahead of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Pavel Brutt (Katusha). 

Cancellara came across the line in 12th position, in the same time as the sixth place finisher (+06”).

“I had hoped we could do well, especially in the finale when there began to be a selection and the peloton was down to 80 or 90 riders and we still had five," sports director Dirk Demol said. "But then on the next lap when it went down to around 50 we lost four, and so Fabian was by himself.  There is not so much you can do alone because you are fighting for position, having to move up all the time, and it was hard for him. But okay, he was again there, and that shows his condition is in the right way. “

Tom Dumoulin’s second place would launch him into the leader’s jersey and relegate Lars Boom (Belkin) to runner-up. But there are two more stages with similar, harsh courses to go, and the battle for the top podium step - separated by a mere two seconds - has just begun.

“It was an honest parcours," Demol said. "We simply were not good enough today. If we can do something our chances are probably better on Sunday. We will take each of the next days as they come, and we will see – we will try and make the best of it, that’s for sure.”