Stage four of the Eneco Tour featured the first real test for the general classification hopefuls: a 14-kilometer individual time trial that was predominantly flat with a few turns and slight rises to disrupt rhythm.

Fabio Felline stopped the clock in 16:57 to slot into 11th place for the stage and the overall (+23”), a great performance to keep him within range of his other main contenders in the overall classification battle.

“It was a good result by Fabio, he has shown his is good in the TT’s this year and it was a course that didn’t really suit him. He is 11th and is very close to the main rivals like Gilbert,” said director Dirk Demol.“This is what we expected today, and now the next three days will be a big fight and we must be ready.”

Marco Coledan also finished in the top 20, finishing nine seconds off Felline’s pace to place 18th in the stage.

Jos van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo) eked out the time trial win, a big victory for the Dutch ProTeam racing in home territory, and will wear the white leader’s jersey into stage five tomorrow, while his teammate Wilco Kelderman is second, five seconds in arrears.

“For the Lotto-Jumbo team you have to understand this race is like the World Championships for them, they are very, very motivated and want to do well racing at home. I see Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet as the big favorites and Fabio is only a few seconds behind them. We are in good position, right where expected to be,” Demol added.

After three days of bunch finishes the GC finally went through its first significant changes, setting up an exciting final three days of mini-classics with the most decisive race Saturday’s stage six.

“Tomorrow is like a mini-Amstel Gold Race, then a mini-Liège-Bastogne-Liège Saturday, and finally a mini-[Tour of] Flanders the last day. So we will be looking for a high GC for Fabio, but we can’t count out chances for stage finishes with Danny [van Poppel] and Giacomo [Nizzolo] depending on how the races go.”