The Renewi Tour is always a race for classic riders. So when people talk about the queen stage, it's not about long climbs, but about slip roads and cobblestones. It was precisely this terrain that awaited the riders on the 3rd stage from Aalter to the finish in Geraardsbergen. After 181 kilometres, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) took the stage win on the uphill road to the finish. He relegated Arnaud de Lie (Lotto) to second place in the sprint. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) followed twelve seconds behind in third place.
13 slip roads on the last 100 kilometres
The trio dominated the last 30 kilometres of the stage. On the last kilometre to the finish, halfway up the Muur van Geraardsbergen, Wellens was no longer able to follow his two rivals. Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin - Deceuninck), Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team) and Fred Wright (Bahrain - Victorious) crossed the finish line 34 seconds behind.
On the last hundred kilometres of this stage in particular, 13 Hellingen, the typical short, steep climbs in Flanders, awaited the riders - including well-known names such as Tenbosse, Berg Ten Houte, Bosberg and Muur van Geraardsbergen. All of these climbs are also part of the programme of several Flemish classics in the spring.
However, second place in the day's classification was enough for De Lie to take the overall lead. The Belgian is now one second ahead of van der Poel.
Results 3rd stage Renewi Tour 2025
How the 3rd stage of the Renewi Tour 2025 went
Eleven riders came together early on in the stage to form the day's escape group, including IgorArrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), EdoardoAffini (Visma| Lease a Bike), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty), Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Johan Jacobs (Groupama- FDJ) and Max Walscheid (Jayco-AlUla). The group built up a lead of around four minutes.
More decisive, however, was what happened in the peloton. At the Berg Ten Houte slip road, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) attacked 96 kilometres from the finish and was accompanied by Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe). However, the gap to the leading group was still 2:45 minutes at this point. Although both riders were steadily closing in on the escapees, UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Soudal - Quick-Step in the peloton didn't really let the duo pull away. Shortly after the first finishing passage of the final circuit, van der Poel and Van Gils were caught again.
Van der Poel, Wellens and De Lie characterise the final
Immediately afterwards, a new chasing group of eleven riders formed after Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) attacked, including van der Poel again as well as Thibau Nys (Lidl - Trek), Matej Mohoric and Fred Wright (Bahrain - Victorious), Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto). Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick-Step), the overall leader, was unable to follow. With 50 kilometres to go, this group caught up with the original escape group.
On the Bosberg 29 kilometres before the finish, van der Poel went on the offensive again - this time only Wellens and DeLie followed. Shortly afterwards, van der Poel continued the ride as a soloist after another attack. However, Wellens and De Lie caught up again just a few kilometres later. The trio then kept the chasers at bay.
