In the first two sprint stages, Belkin came close to a stage win with Theo Bos but since then the team has been rather anonymous in the Tour of Belgium. However, they ended the race on a high as Paul Martens won the queen stage that brought the race to an end.

 

However, the German seemed to be out of the running when race leader Tony Martin decided to show that he is the strongest rider in the race. Together with Bram Tankink (Belkin) and Dires Devenyns (Giant-Shimano) he launched a brave move in the finale and as the trio passed the flamme rouge, they still had a solid gap over the small peloton that was left after a very hard and aggressive race in the Ardennes.

 

None of the fast riders seemed to have any riders left to support and as Martin took a huge turn on the front with less than 500m to go, however, it seemed that the front trio would stay away. That's when Philippe Gilbert kicked into action, leading out Greg Van Avermaet and with less than 200m to go, the group powered past Martin, Devenyns and Tankink.

 

BMC didn't get the reward for their efforts though as Martens was in the perfect position and the fast German shot ahead to hold off Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) and Van Avermaet to secure himself his first win since the overall victory in last year's Tour of Luxembourg. Behind a crash marred the finale, bringing down among others Martens's teammate Sep Vanmarcke.

 

The stage had taken place on a 178.7km route starting and finishing in Oreye that was a very hilly affair. It consisted of two laps on a big circuit that contained six well-known climbs in the Ardennes, including the Mur de Huy. However, the final ascent was located almost 20km from the line, meaning that riders had to attack from afar to take the leader's jersey off Martin's shoulders.

 

As expected the hilly terrain invited to attacks and the riders reached the 23km mark before the break finally took off. Tim De Troyer (Wanty), Stig Boreckx (Lotto Belisol), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Victor Campenaerts (Topsport), Luigi Miletta (Neri Sottoli), Timothy Stevens (3M), Robin Stenuit (Wallonie), Edwig Cammaerts (Cofidis) and Gorik Gardeyn (Veranclassic) were the riders that finally made it clear.

 

While the gap started to grow, Serge Dewortelaer (Veranclassic) took off in pursuit but the Belgian never made the junction. Meanwhile, Burghardt and De Troyer tried to escape on their own but they had no success.

 

While the gap was kept stable at around the 2-minute mark, Burghardt continued his aggressive riding and next he took off with Broeckx. Again, however, it led to nothing and the front group found back together.

 

Gardeyn started to struggle but managed to rejoin the front group. As they went up the Mur de Huy for the second time, however, he fell of for good, and Stevens and Stenuit also had to surrender.

 

Philipp Walsleben (BKCP) attacked from the peloton and soon caught Stevens, Stenuit and Gardeyn but as Tom Boonen was now working hard for Martin, the group was caught with 45km to go.

 

On the next climb, the Mur d'Amay, Silvan Dillier (BMC) attacked and this caused the pace to go up. The peloton started to splinter while an IAM rider was the next to try but none of the attacks were successful.

 

On the Cote de Stockeu, Van Avermaet tried to put Martin under pressure and when he was brought back, Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) tried. Gianni Meersman brought it back together though but the Frenchman gave it another try.

 

It was impossible to escape though and instead Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) took off, bridging the gap to the frotn group. 32km from the line, however, Omega Pharma-Quick Step brought it all back together.

 

The attacking continued for a little while but the next serious move came with 23km to go when Gilbert accelerated. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) and Chavanel joined him, making it a very dangerous situation for Martin.

 

Niki Terpstra reduced the gap so much that Martin, Martens, Van Avermaet and Jan Bakelants (OPQS) could jump across and impressively young Mathieu van der Poel (BKCP) also made it up to the leaders. As there was no cooperation, van Avermaey took off with van der Poel but they were soon brought back.

 

Vanmarcke bridged across but soon a lot of riders joined the group. After a little attacking, a 40-rider group gathered in the front.

 

Lotto Belisol and Omega Pharma-Quick Step kept the speed high before Gilbert secured some bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint. Just after that point, however, Martin made his move and was joined by Deneyns and Tankink.

 

With 2km to go, they were 6 seconds ahead and as they passed the flamme rouge, they seemed to be making it. However, Gilbert made his action to bring it back together for a sprint won by Martens.

 

Martin may have missed the stage win but the German could be consoled by the fact that he secured himself the third consecutive overall victory in the race, writing his name into history as the first rider to do so. Dumoulin and Chavanel completed the podium. Gilbert won the points jersey, Dumoulin the youth classification and Omega Pharma-Quick Step the teams classification.

 

Racing in Belgium will now take a long break while the preparation for the Tour de France continues across Europe. The next major race is Halle-Ingooigem which takes place at the end of June.