Tom Dumoulin wins the 2017 BinckBank Tour
Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) won the last stage of the BinckBank Tour while Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) took the overall victory
The last stage of the Dutch-Belgium between Essen and Geraardsbergen included the famous cobbles of the Muur van Geraardsbergen.
An early breakaway of seven riders was established including; Elia Viviani, Tony Martin, Jay Thomson, Grega Bole, Kenny deHaes, Elmar Reinders and Tim Merlier with a 2 minute lead.
The peloton didn't let them get any further ahead. Rickaert and van Hecke joined the breakaway making it nine riders.
Bora - hansgrohe were leading the chase with 60 kms to go. With 54 kms to go and the peloton were slowly reeling the break back in, which stood at 1m 22secs. Two remaining breakaway riders had 1m 20 sec ahead of the bunch with 40km to go.
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) cleverly took two seconds on the Golden Kilometre sprints to take more time on Wellens.
A group of around 15 riders attacked out of the main pleoton, including the favourites.
Several attacks took place including Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Greg van Avermaet (BMC). Peter Sagan sat up, tired of doing all the work and Jasper Stuyven attacked.
No one chased so Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) solo'ed across the finish line a second ahead of the remining bunch.
2017 Giro d'Italia champion Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) finished third and along with his time bonuses, took the overall victory.
Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) came second and third overall respectively.
After the race Dumoulin said: "It's great to finally win here after a few years of being close. This was our goal and we all had to come together to make it happen, which we did. The team was super strong every day and today it was up to us but we had it all under control, and I had good legs today."
Team Sunweb coach Tom Veelers (NED) added: "We're really happy with this win for the team and the great job that the guys have done here. The stage started with a big fight for the break, and the nine man group that went was an ideal situation for us with the first rider at 15-minutes.
"We didn't have to work until the start of the local lap and there we saw a big fight on the climbs, but we stayed calm and could follow with Tom who was really strong once again today."
2017 BinckBank Tour Stage 7 Top Ten Results
1 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 4:06:48
2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:01
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
8 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
9 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
10 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
2017 BinckBank Tour Final Classification after Stage 7
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 24:34:33
2 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:17
3 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:46
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:51
5 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:14
6 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:15
7 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:53
8 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:59
9 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:12
10 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:23