Caleb Ewan earned his first Benelux Tour victory in a sprint finish in Bilzen ©Getty Images

Australia’s Caleb Ewan of Lotto-Soudal won the fifth stage of the Benelux Tour after sprinting to victory in a close finale in the Belgian town of Bilzen, while Swiss rider Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ took advantage of his rivals' woes to move top of the general classification.

The 192-kilometre route began in Riemst in Belgium, and featured 15 climbs.

Kasper Asgreen of Denmark and Deceuninck-QuickStep started the day second in the general classification lead, and sprang into action when breakaway leaders Casper Pedersen, a fellow Dane and Team DSM rider, and New Zealand and Team BikeExchange’s Jack Bauer were caught.

However, Asgreen faced mechanical issues and eventually finished the stage 42 seconds off the pace to leave him 13th and 35 seconds off the top of the general classification.

Ewan flew past Italy’s Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain Victorious in the sprint finish to secure a first stage victory at the Benelux Tour.

"I had a lot of confidence," Ewan said after.

"I didn't know how the legs were going to be after a long day, as a smaller sprinter I knew this finish would suit me.

"The team did a fantastic job.

"The last 50km there were a lot of attacks, but we controlled the final and caught the breakaway.

"With 2.5km to go [Tim] Wellens put me in a perfect position and then it was easy to stay at the front."

Colbrelli came second, with Dutch rider Danny van Poppel of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux completing the podium.

Küng began the day in fourth in the general classification, 20 seconds adrift of his compatriot and EF Education-Nippo rider Stefan Bissegger, but now holds a two-second lead.

Bissegger had led the way for the last three days, but was dropped during the final kilometres of stage five and relinquished the blue jersey.

Australia’s Luke Durbridge of Team BikeExchange is now second in the general classification, with Christophe Laporte of Cofidis third.

Laporte and Team Qhubeka NextHash’s Belgian cyclist Victor Campenaerts in fourth are both six seconds behind Küng.

Belgium’s Tim Merlier of Alpecin-Fenix maintained his points classification lead and is now on 75 points, although Van Poppel is only two behind on 73.

Tomorrow’s 207.6km penultimate stage is running from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve to Houffalize in Belgium, before the race draws to a close on Sunday (September 5).