Wouter Weylandt got a second chance at victory in stage four of the Eneco Tour on Sunday. He fared better this time and collected his first ProTour victory.
In stage two won by T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish, Weylandt had also contested the final sprint, but he was relegated from third to 140th after being cited for "irregular sprinting." However, Weylandt got his turn at success in Sunday afternoon's stage by winning another controversial sprint ahead of Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and CSC's Matthew Goss. The Belgian and the big Norwegian bumped shoulders shortly before crossing the finish line.
"This is my revenge," proclaimed the 22 year-old blond Belgian. Referring to the second stage in which he was relegated, Weylandt said, "I wrongly took the incorrect line. I have admitted that. That just makes it more beautiful to take this [stage four's] sporting revenge."
"Afterwards three riders came up to complain to me, but the only one who might have a right to do that was Hushovd. I bumped against him when I made my jump," Weylandt said. "The other two just complained because they know I was disqualified in Knokke."
"Are you crazy?" Gerolsteiner's David Kopp had shouted to Weylandt after the finish.
Weylandt won the sprint after the peloton chased down a break including Stephane Poulhies (Ag2r), Roberto Longo (Lampre), Niko Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques) and Dmitry Grabovskiy (Quick.Step Innergetic). The trio had built up a lead of over seven minutes, but were caught with 30km to go.
Monday's fifth stage will stay in the Netherlands, running 179.8 flat kilometers from Terneuzen to Nieuwegein.
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