Jasper De Buyst delivered Lotto Soudal a second stage victory in the Tour of Denmark today. At the end of stage four, a reduced peloton sprinted for the win on the short but hard uphill finish in Asnæs Indelukke. De Buyst started his sprint early, but held an impressive effort until the line and took his fifth win as a pro. Amaury Capiot and Huub Duijn finished second and third, respectively. Thanks to his stage win, De Buyst moves up to fifth overall. Tiesj Benoot punctured as the race entered the final local lap, which saw him fall back to 13th place in the general classification. 

After an animated start to the stage, eventually a six-rider breakaway formed. At 40 kilometres from the finish, the riders crossed the line in Asnæs Indelukke for the first time, after which three local laps still followed. The race lit up once the peloton reached the hilly local circuit. Quite some attacks were launched, but it was mainly Jumbo-Visma who decided that a reduced group would take on the final hill in Asnæs Indelukke. De Buyst launched his sprint relatively early, but he left everybody behind with a powerful and long effort. After the earlier win by Tiesj Benoot in the opening stage, it is now the second win for Lotto Soudal in this Tour of Denmark.

Jasper De Buyst: “During the first time across the finish line, I realised that it suited me perfectly. However, I had to hope for the scenario in which a reduced group would sprint for victory and that is exactly what happened. Also for me, it was a pity that Tiesj punctured during the finale, but I am of course happy to finish it off myself. We both have our strengths and we managed to take advantage of that.”

“When some Danish riders went full on the final climb, I suddenly found myself sitting in third position. When their pace, at a bit under 300 metres from the line, dropped a little, I hesitated for a moment. But I wanted to avoid that someone would come from behind and eventually, I decided to go. For a moment, I feared that I had gone too early but when I looked back, I already had a nice gap. Then, it was about giving it all until the line. I expect a bunch sprint tomorrow, but as always, the riders make the race and that won’t be different tomorrow.”

“Everybody who did the Tour and finished it not completely empty, will reap the benefits. The hardest thing is to keep busy after the Tour and to maintain the form. Like everyone knows, we had a difficult time with the team. I confided to the people close to me that I wanted to win as soon as possible. On the one hand as a tribute to Bjorg, but also to get some strength from it and I am happy that I could do so today.”