Renewi Tour 2025: De Lie wins stage 5 and the overall standings in a thriller by the second
A thriller of a second decided the Renewi Tour 2025. For a while, it looked as if Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) would win the overall classification. The Dutchman secured bonus seconds en route and took a virtual lead in the classification. However, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) turned the outcome of the stage race around by winning the sprint after 184.7 kilometres.
Time credit decides round trip for De Lie
Thanks to the time credit of ten seconds, De Lie overtook van der Poel in the overall standings in the final metres. In the end, both riders were separated by three seconds. Van der Poel finished second in Leuven in the sprint of a larger group and immediately congratulated De Lie at the finish for winning the stage race. Third place in the day's classification went to Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), who was caught almost at the finish line after an attack on the last kilometre. Third place in the overall classification went to Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG).
The final stage of the Renewi Tour took place in the heart of Flanders around the city of Leuven. The first stage was a circuit that had to be cycled twice. This was followed by another lap, which included the finish passage in Leuven five times. Parts of the route were part of the 2021 World Championship course, but with a total of 25 short climbs and 1500 metres of elevation gain, the stage still offered enough obstacles to change the overall standings once again. Accordingly, the stage was ridden aggressively.
Results 5th stage Renewi Tour 2025
How the 5th stage of the Renewi Tour 2025 went
It took several kilometres and attempts on this stage before the day's leading group was formed. Edoardo Affini (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) made the decisive move after 28 kilometres, accompanied by Kasper Agreen (EF Education - EasyPost), Siebe Deweirdt (Team Flanders - Baloise) and the Lithuanian champion Aivaras Mikutis (Tudor). The group built up a maximum lead of three minutes.
In the peloton, the XDS Astana team in particular endeavoured to lead the way. With 50 kilometres to go, the escape of the leading group was over. There were several attacks afterwards, including Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) and Fred Wright (Bahrain - Victorious), and later Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) and Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates - XRG). Small groups broke away again and again for a short time without really being able to break away.
High speed and many attacks
With 22 kilometres to go, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) won the first bonus sprint with a long sprint. With the three seconds he gained there, he overtook Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) by a virtual one second in the overall standings. The bonus sprints also formed a leading group around van der Poel, Bettiol, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Tom Skujins (Lidl - Trek). Wellens also tried to go solo. However, their attack came to an end 13 kilometres before the finish. Arnaud De Lie in the leader's jersey kept a remarkably low profile at this stage of the race.
Further attacks followed. But no rider was able to pull away. However, neither team was able to control the race situation. The stage was again ridden extremely hard at 46 km/h. At the last slip road in Wijnpers, Paul Magnier (Soudal - Quick-Step) and Thibau Nys (Lidl - Trek) attacked five kilometres before the finish, but didn't get far either. Wellens then attacked again. However, the leading group came together at the finish line in Leuven - with De Lie taking the win.
