Tour de Wallonie

Stage 3:  Andenne to Hotton, 180.2km/112mi

By Cathy Mehl

It was another sprint win and another race leader for the Tour de Wallonie on Monday’s stage 3 from Andenne to Hotton.  Some 70 riders came in together to contest the sprint won by Kristof Goddaert of AG2R, who became the third wearer of the leader’s jersey as well.

Today’s course was tougher than the first two with numerous hills to climb before arriving in Hotton.  After an hour of racing two riders escaped, including Tony Gallopin, nephew of Team RadioShack Director Alain Gallopin.  But the duo were never allowed too much time, topping out at just over two and a half minutes to the main field.

Near the end a group that included Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) split the peloton, bringing two-thirds of the field to the line with a gap of almost four minutes opening up to the rest of the riders.  The Shack’s Gert Steegmans was again in the front group and sprinted for the line, but slipped back to 15th on the stage.   Steegmans, Tomas Vaitkus and Jason McCartney are all ten seconds off the pace for the GC with two stages left to race.

Tuesday’s stage 4 is 168km from Vielsalm to Villers-le-Bouillet on a decidedly lumpy profile that should see the climbers taking over for the sprinters as the Tour de Wallonie continues through Wednesday.

Top Ten Results

1 GODDAERT Kristof * ALM 4:31:04 0:00:00

2 POZZATO Filippo KAT 4:31:04 0:00:00

3 VAN VOOREN Steven * TSV 4:31:04 0:00:00

4 KRISTOFF Alexander * BMC 4:31:04 0:00:00

5 WEYLANDT Wouter QST 4:31:04 0:00:00

6 COMMEYNE Davy LAN 4:31:04 0:00:00

7 BOZIC Borut VAC 4:31:04 0:00:00

8 GALLAND Jérémie SAU 4:31:04 0:00:00

9 DOWNING Russell SKY 4:31:04 0:00:00

10 MASCIARELLI Andrea ASA 4:31:04 0:00:00

Team RadioShack Results

15 STEEGMANS Gert RSH 4:31:04 0:00:00

52 LEQUATRE Geoffroy RSH 4:31:04 0:00:00

58 VAITKUS Tomas RSH 4:31:04 0:00:00

63 MCCARTNEY Jason RSH 4:31:04 0:00:00

75 SELANDER Bjorn * RSH 4:34:56 0:03:52

82 ROSSELER Sébastien RSH 4:34:56 0:03:52

90 BEWLEY Sam * RSH 4:38:58 0:07:54

General Classification after Stage 3

1 GODDAERT Kristof * ALM 13:56:29 0:00:00

2 VAN VOOREN Steven * TSV 13:56:29 0:00:00

3 WEYLANDT Wouter QST 13:56:31 0:00:02

4 VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter * TSV 13:56:31 0:00:02

5 POZZATO Filippo KAT 13:56:33 0:00:04

6 BERARD Julien * ALM 13:56:34 0:00:05

7 BOZIC Borut VAC 13:56:35 0:00:06

8 HENDERSON Greg SKY 13:56:35 0:00:06

9 KAISEN Olivier OLO 13:56:35 0:00:06

10 BUFFAZ Mickaël COF 13:56:36 0:00:07

Team RadioShack on General Classification

19 STEEGMANS Gert RSH 13:56:39 0:00:10

59  MCCARTNEY Jason RSH 13:56:39 0:00:10

66 VAITKUS Tomas RSH 13:56:39 0:00:10

72 LEQUATRE Geoffroy RSH 13:56:59 0:00:30

84 ROSSELER Sébastien RSH 14:00:31 0:04:02

88 SELANDER Bjorn * RSH 14:00:51 0:04:22

97 BEWLEY Sam * RSH 14:04:33 0:08:04