Tudor Pro Cycling’s Trentin wins Tour de Wallonie

Matteo Trentin is the winner of the Tour de Wallonie. After winning yesterday’s stage with a mighty sprint uphill, Tudor Pro Cycling worked exceptionally well as a team to secure the Swiss team’s first GC win of the season on the BMC Teammachine R 01.

It was a nail-biting finale in Thuin: Trentin finished outside the bonification seconds while his main competitor took six seconds on the line. Corbin Strong and Trentin ended up at the same time in the GC after five days of racing, but Trentin was announced as the winner of the Tour de Wallonie due to his consistent finishes throughout the five days of racing.

Winning the Tour de Wallonie was not only Trentin’s first GC-win for Tudor Pro Cycling, but also the first one of his career. He did win a stage in the Tour de Wallonie before: stage four in 2016.

Tudor Pro Cycling was under pressure as a group of sixteen riders rode away from the peloton, and the attackers were hard to catch on a challenging local circuit that included a steep cobbled climb. However, the team on BMC Teammachine R 01s kept the gap small throughout the 192-kilometer final stage, and the four last riders from the original breakaway posed no danger to Trentin’s leading position in the GC.

It was an excellent situation for Trentin, who had to handle the final lap of racing by himself. Competitors aiming to win the GC had to chase the leaders in the last 15 kilometers to battle for the bonus seconds, hoping to take Trentin’s orange jersey as GC leader.

Ultimately, the final stage was contested in a sprint of a small peloton on the ‘Mûr de Thuin’ (0.6km, 6.2%). A technical sprint in small, twisty and windy roads of the Wallonian town, on cobbles. Trentin positioned himself well in the wheel of his main competitors and secured the overall victory with a 8th position on the line.

“This is very nice”, Trentin said after the finish in Thuin. “It was a very tight battle toady, all the way to the line. The competition was tough and I am happy that I won it.”

“My teammates rode hard all day today”, the Italian cyclist continued. “Arthur Kluckers and Jacob Eriksson battled hard against the sixteen in the front. All the others, on the circuit, helped controlling the situation. The race went how we liked it. It was a very tight finish.”

“This is my first GC victory, that’s fantastic.”