Not Van der Poel or a UAE rider, but Tiberi takes overall victory in Luxembourg: entertaining final stage victorious for Gaudu

David Gaudu won the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg after a mouth-watering final stage. In the challenging last stage, he was the smartest (and strongest) of a small group that had managed to break away from the rest after several attacks. Mathieu van der Poel tried but could not prevent the final victory from slipping away from him. The final victory went to Antonio Tiberi, who was also in the Gaudu group.

It could have gone either way on the final day of the Luxembourg stage race! Van der Poel had regained the lead after the time trial but was closely followed by Hirschi, Ayuso, and Vansevenant. On Sunday, there was a rather treacherous uphill race, so there was plenty to look forward to! Because the whole day up and down, with climbs ranging from a maximum of 2.2 kilometers to only 800 meters, that had to be spectacular!

Game on early (with Van der Poel too), but eventually Ryan, Staune-Mittet and Milesi formed the leading group

Early on in the 177-kilometer ride - we started without the sick Bart Lemmen, by the way - the game was on between Mersch and the capital Luxembourg! In no time - and we still had so far to go! - an elite group had managed to break away from the pack. Of course, Hirschi, Van der Poel, and the other favorites are also in that group. The number of dropouts was also quick: Christophe Laporte, Andreas Kron, and Giovanni Lonardi, among others, had also decided to abandon the race.

On the other hand, the leading group realized it was perhaps too early to cause trouble and let the peloton catch them up. At least, that was except for Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), and Johannes Staune-Mittet (Visma | Lease a Bike). The three of them continued to ride ahead of the peloton.

Kelderman, Van der Poel and Simmons alert (and active)

Ryan, Milesi, and Staune-Mittet stayed in front of the peloton for quite a long time while Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step mainly chased. A lot could happen on the local circuit, but at 15 kilometers from the finish, two of the three men were still in the lead! Those were Ryan and Staune-Mittet, so they were solid. When would the thinned-out peloton explode, and could the fireworks begin?

That turned out to be the case with thirteen kilometers to go. Hirschi was the first to throw the baton and got Van der Poel, Quinn Simmons, Vansevenant, David Gaudu, Wilco Kelderman, and a few other guys with him. We were loose! Gaps were created but also closed just as quickly. Attacks were visible at every turn, but so were the neutralizations of those attacks. It was racing by the book, fantastic!

Van der Poel can't prevent Tiberi coup; Gaudu takes stage win

Van der Poel, whose teammates had been dropped rather quickly, sensed danger from all sides. The 29-year-old from Kapellen was bombed with attacks from all sides, but no one got away. Did that perhaps play into the hands of the world champion? At a certain point, a group, including Tiberi (and Gaudu), managed to escape the rest, but the groups behind didn't appear to come close anymore. The Italian of Bahrain Victorious didn't ask for any takeovers in that group but instead pushed on alone. Was that the decisive move?

Tiberi, Gaudu, Simmons, and Jordan Jegat had a 45-second lead over Van der Poel and co. with three kilometers to go. But there was still a climb! On that little hill, Tiberi - who was only racing for the overall victory - kept going at the front, but just before the finish, Gaudu took off like a rocket and won the stage. Van der Poel eliminated everything and everyone in the "peloton" (Pedersen stayed on), but it was not enough to secure the overall victory. That went to Tiberi.

Results stage 5 Tour of Luxembourg 2024

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