Ben Oliver Doubles up at Tour de Wallonie and Takes The GC!
New Zealander Ben Oliver caps off a dominant team performance at the Ethias Tour de Wallonie, sprinting to victory on stage five and delivering Modern Adventure Pro Cycling’s first GC win.
The result was the culmination of five days of determined racing from the whole team. Oliver opened his account on stage two with an impressive victory in difficult conditions, moving into the overall race lead after a strong team performance. Meanwhile, teammate Samuel Flórez made his mark in the mountains competition, taking the KOM jersey after an aggressive ride on stage one and successfully defending it through stage two.
The race took a turn on stage three, with a late crash costing Oliver the overall lead and led to Flórez relinquishing the KOM jersey, leaving the team facing an uphill battle heading into the final two stages. Rather than letting the setback define the rest of their race, they responded with determination, racing aggressively to put themselves back into contention. Stage four saw Flórez back in the KOM jersey, with Oliver picking up valuable bonus seconds to keep the team in the GC fight.
Entering the fifth, and potentially most challenging, final stage, Oliver was just four seconds down on the general classification. The team rode a calm and patient race, fully focused on the final sprint. The challenging parcours brought a reduced group to the line, where Oliver produced a perfectly timed sprint to take the stage victory and the crucial bonus seconds needed to overturn the deficit and secure overall victory at the Tour de Wallonie.
Ben Oliver: “Absolutely insane week. I couldn’t have expected this at the start! We just went all in for the last stage win, survived the climbs, skipped the bonus sprints and in the final sprint , I followed the right wheel. I can’t thank the boys enough for all of their support this week. What a ride!”
Modern Adventure Pro Cycling DS, Ty Magner: “A pretty awesome way to end the week! This morning, we said that the way to win the overall was to win today's stage, and it was insane to see how the riders came together to make it happen. It’s also pretty crazy - we nailed two stage wins, the points jersey, and then the overall… and we’ve done it in just six months as a team, with some guys who have never even raced in Europe before… but we made it happen!”
Modern Adventure co-founder, George Hincapie: “I’m really proud of all the guys this week - riders and staff. We were put in a new position by winning stage two and taking the overall lead, and the guys all stepped up. In fact, not only did they step up, but they took control. Today they rode with confidence, they sat back all day, biding their time for the finish and in the end it paid off. I could not be any happier with the guys. Super proud.”
