The Tour de l'Eurométropole ended with its fourth straight bunch finish, and Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) made good on the final 155-kilometer race to take the stage win and overall victory. Danny van Poppel sprinted to fourth, and although he missed finishing in the top three by a hair, it was a much-improved sprint from the previous two stages.

Jasper Stuyven’s attack with Zdenek Stybar (OPQS) in the last kilometers almost paid off; they were finally caught outside the final kilometer, and after his move was nullified Stijn Devolder led Danny van Poppel into perfect position before the final corner.

This time the young Dutch sprinter was able to crack the top five against some of the world’s best sprinters, returning his confidence and boosting his morale ahead of his final race of the season the Tour of Beijing in five days.

Trek Factory Racing ended the four-day tour with another solid team effort, and despite coming away with only fourth and fifth place finishes, director Dirk Demol was extremely pleased with how the team raced:

“It was super fast today, an average of 48kmh for the race, and it is also a very large peloton here – 183 riders - which made a hard stage again. The team was super again today. Our intention was to go for the time bonifications with Jasper. They were on the final laps at the top of a small climb and we tried to move Jasper higher in the GC, but the others had the same intentions, and they were too strong,” Demol told the Trek website.

“The last time over the sprint bonification Jasper went with several others but 3-4 of them did not pull. So Jasper attacked with Stybar, it was a nice try. They were only caught with just over one kilometer to go. And then Stijn [Devolder] brought Danny to position before the final corner. Fourth is not bad,” Demol continued.

“Our hope was to have better results with both the GC and a stage, but that is how it is. The team did their best, and we just have to keep going. There are still a few races left for some of the riders: Danny and Boy will go to {Tour of] Beijing and Jasper to Paris-Tours; they are motivated for these last races. They are young guys, and I have all the confidence in them for the future,” Demol finished.