Remco Evenpoel (Desseuninck-Quick Step) pulled away from the pack with less than 50km to go on stage 4 of the Tour de Pollogne, dedicating his victory to teammate Fabio Jacobsen, who was in a coma for two days after a crash on stage 1.

Evenepoel attacked the WorldTour's leading peloton with 51km to go on Saturday and pulled away from the rest of the pack by nearly two minutes before crossing the finish line. He now leads the race by 1:48 over Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and 2:22 over Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

Barring accidents or major surprises, Evenpoel will win the GC on Sunday, but the sight of him crossing the finish line on stage 4 with Jacobsen's race number will be one of the most memorable images of the race this year.

The Dutch road champion was pushed into a barrier on the first stage and crashed. He fell into a coma and suffered serious facial injuries. He spent nearly six hours in the theater, but awoke from his coma on Friday. Dylan Groenewegen, who caused the crash by changing the racing line, was disqualified and will receive further punishment from the UCI.

"I wanted to give everything for Fabio today. After the first stage we all had a pretty tough time, but we stuck together and I think the whole world saw the strength of this team today," Evenpoel said after his victory

. So the moment I got his bib number in the morning before the start and held it in my hand, I felt something special"

.

"It wasn't easy and I suffered, but nothing compared to what Fabio has endured recently. But it doesn't compare to what Fabio has endured recently.

Race leader Richard Calapaz (Team Ineos) was involved in a crash, but was unable to snatch victory from Evenpoel, who has won every stage race he has entered in 2020.

He won a stage and the overall at the Vuelta a San Juan and also took two stage wins and the overall at the Volta ao Algarve; when he returned to racing at the end of July, he took a stage win and the overall at the Vuelta a Burgos. He is aiming to compete in the Giro d'Italia later this year.

"The plan was to attack, but not too early, but I felt everyone was at their limit, so I attacked with 50km to go. Until then, the guys did a great job protecting me right from the start.

"When the car informed me that the gap to the rest of the field was so small that no one could keep up with us, it gave me even more confidence. I'm happy with this win and the fact that I have the yellow jersey with one day to go."