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Is Lennert Van Eetvelt the next big Belgian star?
The up and coming rider collected his second WorldTour stage race victory of the season Sunday, winning the Gree-Tour of Guangxi in China.
It followed on from his success in the UAE Tour in February, where he beat Ben O’Connor by two seconds.
O’Connor went on to have the best season of his career, taking second in both the world road race championships and Vuelta a España, as well as a number of other strong results.
Being bettered by the-then 22 year old Van Eetvelt is a measure of the latter’s talent.
Taking the overall in the Gree-Tour of Guangxi further underlines his promise.
“Most years, I end my season somewhere in the rain, wondering what I’m even doing,” he said after Sunday’s final stage, laughing.
“But now, because I took a break from racing after the Vuelta, I actually feel really fresh. Just two weeks ago, I had a 30-hour training week, and I’m really happy that all that hard work so late in the year has paid off.”
The 23 year old Lotto Dstny competitor grabbed the overall lead Saturday when he was best on the summit finish to Nongla. He outsprinted the Briton Oscar Onley (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) after the duo caught and dropped lone leader Victor Lafay (Decathlon-Ag2r-La Mondiale) close to the line.
“When Tim Wellens attacked, I thought today wasn’t going to be my day,” he said, referring to a surge by his compatriot Wellens, who races for UAE Team Emirates.
“But the last kilometer is so tough, and I know how to keep my own pace on such sections, so I just kept going.”
He ended the day two seconds ahead of Onley in the overall standings, making for a nervous final day of racing Sunday.
‘It got pretty tense at times’
The final stage of the race began and concluded in Nanning. It came down to a big bunch sprint won by Matevž Govekar of the Bahrain-Victorious team.
Wellens was part of the day’s break, spelling a threat for the overall. He had started the day just over half a minute back but Lotto Dstny and others controlled the pace and recaptured the break with approximately 20km to go.
“It was a tricky day from start to finish,” Van Eetvelt said afterwards.
“It got pretty tense at times. The team had to work really hard when a breakaway got away. And even in the final lap, the attacks kept coming. If Oscar Onley had finished second, or if someone had attacked in the last kilometer… So many scenarios could have played out, and we were under stress until the very end.
“Fortunately, I had a good day, and the rest of the team did an amazing job. Winning a World Tour race isn’t something you do on your own, and today proved that once again.”
The result adds to the momentum he has built this year, and makes up for his disappointing end to the Vuelta a España.
He withdrew from that race after stage 11, having been unwell for several days. However he greatly impressed early on.
Van Eetvelt would almost certainly won stage four had he not celebrated prematurely atop the Pico Villuercas climb, with his jubilation allowing eventual race winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to lunge past.
It’s the kind of mistake you make once in your career.
‘It gives me a lot of confidence’
Deeply disappointed with that outcome, Van Eetvelt held a top eight placing overall until the end of stage nine. However his illness cost him the chance of a possible top ten GC finish in what was only his second-ever Grand Tour.
Rebounding to take a solid seventh overall in Il Lombardia was a promising sign, and he now ends his season with the second WorldTour stage race victory this year.
“I never expected to reach this level at the end of October,” he admitted. “It gives me a lot of confidence after a difficult season.
“Plus, I can go on vacation without any worries, and that feels really good.”
Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT) won the women’s Tour of Guangxi Sunday, outsprinting Giada Borghesi (Human Powered Health) after they spent some 35km out front.
Alonso’s teammate Marta Lach led in a chase group 2:47 back.
The women’s WorldTour race is just a single day event, some five stages shorter than the men’s contest.
Great to see the maiden WWT win for Sandra Alonso this morning at the Tour of Guangxi
The Spanish rider has developed from a sprinter to a breakaway winner, taking 3 wins this season with attacks. Ceratizit WNT has now earned a boatload of UCI points in #TOG2024 pic.twitter.com/fbJJiAdqUo
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) October 20, 2024
