sutty68 - It's getting worse!

Ollfardh - Talk about your bad daily form, right? The time trial is uphill to MO stat equally important. Machado and Uran both 81 MO!

Jesleyh - Very close! Thanks, Stijn's very happy!

Atlantius - That's true. With 3 flat stages to come, I hope that'll be Stijn's, though!

Jesleyh - Time to come up with a plan for the final week!

PCM rulezz - Thanks. I hope so, too!

sutty68 - He's got three flat stages to prepare mentally and then blast off in the mountains

wogsrus - There sure are. A lot of mountains to be tamed.

NTTHRASH - Thank you! Hope so

Jakstar22 - I will, thanks for support

krisa - Thanks!

dienblad - Thanks I thought it was an excellent time to test out Extreme. But I'm not ready yet, definitely not

Stijn Van Gent, aged 25, has set an impressive streak of three wins in a row in the Giro d'Italia. Racing for Garmin, this is Van Gent's fourth year as a pro, but already he has a rare and most impressive palmares. Growing into a national hero, he proved to be back from a minor setback by taking three wins in a row, fourth overall in his first Giro d'Italia.

Belgium's Hope

Only a month ago, Van Gent cracked in Paris - Roubaix. Belgium was waiting for the first Monument of this talent, but he didn't deliver. Despite all criticism, he took his preparation of the Giro very seriously. Being set aside by the team because of GC interests, Van Gent has been jumping from wheel to wheel, sprinting to four victories already.

At the same time, team mate and bronze medal at the Tour Willy Wouters is in the middle of a fight for the Pink Jersey. Another young Belgium talent, Wouters has started the Giro with a bang, but lost time in the last mountain stages. With multiple mountain stages coming up, he's looking to get back in Pink. He'd be the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour since Lucien Van Impe won the Tour in 1976.

After years of Tom Boonen, it seems Belgium has new hope in Grand Tours. Van Gent is tipped as a big candidate for the Green Jersey in next year's Tour de France, while Wouters is expected to do big things and give Belgium another GT victory after all these decades.

Three Consecutive Wins

Stage 12 started in France and returned to Italy for a mass sprint. Van Gent easily sprinted to the win, conquering the Points Jersey.




The next stage was also expected to end in a mass sprint. The four-man break was only brought back in the final 5 km, to everyone's surprise. The sprint was unorganized and Van Gent started his sprint from far out, not to be caught until after the finish.




Finally, stage 14 was another flat race. Van Gent, in the form of his life, was top favorite. Everyone knew he was the fastest, but nobody was able to do anything about it. He sprinted to his third consecutive victory. Three days, three wins. It's a piece of Belgian modern cycling history.




Van Gent was short in his interview, but he said everything he wanted to say: "I'm extremely happy. I had been looking forward to these stages and wanted at least one, winning all three never entered my mind. I will do everything to keep this jersey until the end!"

For Van Gent, it'd be his first Points Jersey in a Grand Tour.