Image 1 of 5
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) claimed his eleventh win of the season and put his title larger on the listing of the game’s quickest sprinters as he beat Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Leasea a Bike) to win the second stage of the Baloise Tour of Belgium in Knokke-Heist.
The barely uphill drag to the road favoured the Belgian, who received three levels of the Giro d’Italia, the Scheldeprijs, Nokere Koerse, three levels within the UAE Tour and two within the AlUla Tour to this point this 12 months.
It was a tactical battle for the stage win, with a headwind and an increase to the road, and Merlier took benefit of Philipsen’s reluctance to begin the dash.
“I felt it was the appropriate second,” Merlier mentioned. “We did not have lots of pace due to the headwind. I knew we had every thing below management within the ultimate kilometres, and I managed to get into an excellent place. I intentionally stayed within the wheels after the final flip.”
Merlier mentioned he wasn’t on his greatest kind after racing the Giro d’Italia and was shocked to win the stage.
“I did not count on this. I do not suppose I’m in prime kind. I used to be slightly afraid for my dash, particularly in opposition to the brisker riders right here,” Merlier mentioned.
“I’ve performed this stage fairly just a few occasions earlier than, and I’ve by no means received a stage within the Tour of Belgium earlier than, so it is good to verify this off the listing.”
Stage 1 winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) managed to maintain a slim lead within the basic classification after coming seventh on the stage and snatching one of many intermediate dash bonuses.
“I used to be slightly too drained to dash however I nonetheless have one second lead,” Wærenskjold mentioned. “When I got here into the end it was slightly laborious so I did not have the very best legs. I used to be too far again earlier than the dash, and the opposite guys have been a lot sooner.”
After the quick opening time trial, the sprinters have been extremely motivated to contest stage 2 of the 2024 Tour of Belgium, an 184.2-kilometre stage from Merelbeke to Knokke-Heist. The principally flat stage had some climbs and cobbles acquainted to riders from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Nokere Koerse, however these obstacles have been largely restricted to the primary half of the stage.
It took nearly an hour for the day’s breakaway to be established, and when it was, the WorldTour groups saved the hole to an easy-to-close degree.
Seven riders from lower-ranked groups made up the transfer with Ward Vanhoof (Flanders-Baloise), Davide Bais (Polti-Kometa), Kay De Bruyckere (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), Lars Loohuis (Beat Cycling), Quentin Bezza (Philippe Wagner/Bazin), Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto Isorex) and Max Kroonen (Volkerwessels) getting a most of 1:45.
As the race became crosswinds, the hole to the breakaway plummeted, and the race was all again along with 75km to go. Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) received the dash in Damme with 48km to go.
The peloton hit the closing circuits all collectively, with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike and Soudal-Quickstep combating for management. Philipsen discovered himself with Olav Kooij on his wheel and delayed his soar, whereas Merlier took benefit of the delay to dash away to the stage win.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling