Van der Poel tries, but Pedersen takes victory in Tour of Luxembourg stage where young Dutchman stole the show

On Wednesday, Van der Poel already showed that he’s starting to hit his stride ahead of the World Championships with a stunning sprint. As a result, the Dutchman got to wear the leader’s jersey for another stage that suited him well. Between Junglinster and Schifflange, 155 hilly kilometers awaited, with a small climb that had to be tackled three times in the finale. Another day up MVDP's sleeve?

The breakaway of the day was driven by, among others, Dutchman Pepijn Reinderink. He had already made a mark on Wednesday by taking the mountain jersey, and today he was hunting for more points. He was joined by local rider Alexandre Kess, and later Johannes Kulset also joined the breakaway, forming a group of three. However, Kulset eventually dropped back. The two remaining leaders managed to build a maximum lead of four minutes.

Meanwhile, bad news was announced through the race radio: Mattias Skjelmose had crashed within the first 20 kilometers of the stage. The Dane was in significant pain and had to abandon the race, eliminating one of the favorites for the overall podium. This was also a blow to one of the potential stars for the World Championships, making Skjelmose's situation look grim.

Reinderink dropped back after securing maximum points on the second steep climb of the day. Kess was left alone but faced an unfortunate fate: being swallowed up by a hungry peloton in the finale. With 30 kilometers to go, the Luxembourger was caught, and the final phase began on the local lap.

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On the rolling roads, Uno-X Mobility and Lotto-Dstny steadily increased the pace. Van der Poel, who was not particularly well-supported after all the trouble within the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, remained alert near the front. A Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider made a bold attack — it was Carl Fredrik Hagen, who finished ninth in the 2019 Vuelta. He built up a decent gap. At the intermediate sprint during the first passage through the finish, bonus seconds were up for grabs. Behind Hagen, Marc Hirschi took two seconds. The Norwegian was soon reeled back in, and then Belgian Victor Vercoullie made a move.

And who went after the Flanders-Baloise rider? Yes, once again, it was Reinderink! The Dutchman had saved his energy during the middle part of the stage. Tandem Reinderink-Vercoullie were the first to pass the penultimate finish line, where Hirschi gained another second on Van der Poel. This led to the final climb, where the two leaders still had a 15-second gap.

On the last uphill section, Reinderink dropped his companion. Meanwhile, there was a minor crash in the peloton, briefly disrupting the organization. For the young Dutchman, his adventure ended quickly after that. Soon after, Juan Ayuso launched an attack, but his gap didn't grow, and the race headed towards a sprint. Several more attacks, including from Esteban Chaves and Bart Lemmen, were unsuccessful. In the sprint, the Lidl-Trek train did its job, and Pedersen was clearly the strongest. Van der Poel gave it a shot but came up short.