On the approach to the finish of the Tour of Denmark stage 4 in Odense Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator riders Michael Van Staeyen and Kris Boeckmans both suffered bad luck, in entirely separate incidents. Van Staeyen was brought down in a small crash in the peloton, while Boeckmans had other problems entirely.
"Both Van Staeyen and Boeckmans were sitting in an ideal position for the sprint, sitting in the wheel of [Alex] Rasmussen and [Matt] Goss,” said the Belgian team’s manager Walter Planckaert in De Standaard. “But at four hundred meters from the finish line an Italian rider [Andrea Guardini (ISD-Neri)- ed] came down and his bike fell smack in front of Van Staeyen which, of course, made him crash.
“Boeckmans collided with his head against the camera of a spectator at 150 meters from the finish line,” he continued. “Just past the finish line he lost consciousness from the blow with a slight concussion. Van Staeyen finished with shock and abrasions from it, but definitely lost his chance to profit in the points standings.”
Boeckmans crossed the line in 49th place, Van Staeyen was given the same time as the main peloton but finished 111th.
Van Staeyen had led the points classification after stage 2, but lost the jersey to Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) after the Dane won stage 3. With no chance to take any points in stage 4 he has slipped to fourth in the standings, 8 points behind new leader Goss (HTC-Columbia).