Eric Vanderarden of Belgium continued his surge...

Eric Vanderarden of Belgium continued his surge toward the lead, winning two stages of the Tour de Trump bicycle race.

Vanderaerden, who began the day in third place, 2:09 behind overall leader Dag Otto Lauritzen, rode conservatively through much of the 97-mile Charlottesville to Richmond Road Race before using his teammates’ drafting help to win the sixth stage in 3 hours 21 minutes 29 seconds.

Vanderaerden also won the night nine-mile Richmond Individual Time Trial in 18:47 and trails Lauritzen, a former Norwegian police officer and military officer, by one minute with three stages left.

“Maybe it’s too much to make up,” said Vanderaerden, who has gained nearly three minutes on the leader in the last five days with four victories and one second-place finish. “But I must think positive and maybe I can catch him.”

Conserving energy, Vanderaerden rode in the back of the main field and then followed several of his teammates on the second of two 3.5-mile laps in the financial district of the state capital. As he had done three previous times, Vanderaerden outsprinted the field for the win.

Michael Zanoli of the Netherlands finished second in the road race, and Soviet amateur Viatcheslav Ekimov was third. In the time trial, Ekimov was second in 18:54, followed by Kent Bostick of Corrales, N.M, in 18:56.

Lauritzen finished sixth and 12th.