June 2, 2026
Starting in Jodoigne near the border with Flanders, the race will head in a Southerly direction, covering two-thirds of Wallonie's latitude. There is an intermediate sprint in Rochefort before the 3.4 km Côte du Fourneau Saint-Michel which averages nearly 7% and summits 84 km from the finish. Just like yesterday, the riders will reach a 25 km finish circuit with two and a half laps around Libramont-Chevigny. There are two intermediate sprints with bonus seconds on offer at 60 km and 35 km to go which should be hotly contested. Coming into the finish, there is a 500 meter rise at 3% but given how many sprinters were present yesterday, this bump shouldn't cause much problem. There are a few other rises on the circuit but, overall, it seems easier and more straightforward which points to a pure bunch sprint at the conclusion of the day.
Race Summary
Rain overnight left puddles at the start in Jodoigne during the sign-on. The clouds were still quite heavy when the riders rolled out but the race got underway safely and a break of six riders got established. The men in the break were Asbjørn Hellemose of Jayco AlUla, Anton Lennemann of BIKE AID, Matthew Kingston of Mg.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente, Iben Rommelaere of Tarteletto-Isorex, Matteo Melotte of Color Code-Alu Center, and Kévin Avoine of Van Rysel Roubaix. Hellemose won the intermediate sprint Rochefort which moved him within a few seconds on the GC and, when live pictures started, the break were 94 km from the finish and were closing in the Côte du Fourneau Saint-Michel. With a stage win under their belts, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe wanted more and were riding in the peloton at just 1 minute 45 seconds.
Kingston was the first casualty of the Côte du Fourneau Saint-Michel as Hellemose pushed on to trim the group. By the top with 84 km to go, Hellemose had Avoine, Rommelaere, and Melotte for company as they made their way towards the circuit entrance. The lap around Libramont-Chevigny sat on the Ardennes Plateau with cultivated farms all around and was quite exposed to the weather. The wind wasn't terribly strong but it was blowing in from the West and pushing the riders into the gutter on the side-wind sections. When the break approached the second intermediate sprint of the day, Hellemose was watching and finally went about 200 meters from the line. He was followed by Rommelaere but the Belgian couldn't come around and Hellemose put another few seconds to his pocket.
With 55 km remaining, the break turned onto a narrow farm road which was paved but wasn't more than a car wide. It caused no trouble at this point in the race but certainly would have been something the riders noted as the section would come 5 km from the finish on the last lap. The break took the last corner at 800 meters and got a good look at the drag to the finish. The road was dead straight but the riders had to take the left side of a roundabout which would momentarily squeeze the bunch as they went through. On the line, the four remaining leaders had 55 seconds and the sense was that the peloton could pounce at will.
Four became three with 39 km to go as Melotte was dropped on a short rise. Hellemose looked to have his sights set on the third and final intermediate sprint so he decided to stop taking pulls which frustrated Avoine. When the sprint arrived, Hellemose had the wool pulled over his eyes by Avoine who jumped first at 150 meters from the sprint to take the maximum prize as a form of retribution. Hellemose did get second and, with the previous two sprints in the bag, the Dane had picked up 8 seconds in GC which put him second overall at 2 seconds behind Meeus.
Shortly after the sprint with around 35 km to go, the clouds opened up and rain was properly coming down. The bunch got more nervous and the teams of Modern Adventure, Movistar, NSN Cycling, and Netcompany-Ineos came to join Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe at the front to try and keep good position. Both Hellemose and Rommelaere sat up from the break leaving just Avoine at the front to plow a lonely 33 km furrow.
Through the bell for one 25 km lap remaining, Avoine was all but caught and the wind had picked up. NSN Cycling took up the pace but there were quite a few other teams pushing forward because the rain had returned and was really coming down hard. The speed was quick but the World Tour teams had the front blocked which allowed them to moderate the pace and keep the attacking at bay. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe lifted their effort and looked like they were teeing up for an attack but it was bid to jump for bonus seconds at the sprint point. The problem for them was that there were no points on offer for this final lap. NSN Cycling, Netcompany-Ineos, Jayco AlUla, and Lotto Intermarché were all drawn out but they were marking each other and the group settled back into a holding pattern with 8 km to race.
Things kicked off once again to gain position going into the narrow roads at 5 km to go. Alpecin-Premier Tech won the position but ceded the front to Lotto Intermarché who kept the race extremely fast into 1,500 meters to go. NSN Cycling and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe had been shuffled back through the narrow roads but returned to the front again and were present and organized through the last corner at 800 meters. In the last 300 meters, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe had three men in front of race leader Jordi Meeus. They were still in lead out mode at 200 meters because of the rise to the line but they left it too late. Meeus and the other sprinters were jumped by Ben Oliver of Modern Adventure who took off early and used the slip stream to slingshot passed. He had super legs on the day and crossed the line with over a bike length to Yorben Lauryssen of Tarteletto-Isorex and Riley Sheehan of NSN Cycling. The win was Modern Adventure's first victory as a team and it was well deserved given how they always seem to ride so well as a unit.
In the end, Meeus could only manage fifth place on the stage. With Oliver and Meeus tied on time, the GC went to countback and Oliver was awarded leadership of the race. Meeus sits second with Hellemose in third at 2 seconds after the raft of bonus seconds he picked up throughout the day.