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Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) claimed his eleventh win of the season and put his identify increased 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 marginally uphill drag to the road favoured the Belgian, who received three phases of the Giro d’Italia, the Scheldeprijs, Nokere Koerse, three phases within the UAE Tour and two within the AlUla Tour up to now this yr.
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 proper second,” Merlier mentioned. “We did not have lots of velocity due to the headwind. I knew we had every part beneath management within the last kilometres, and I managed to get into place. I intentionally stayed within the wheels after the final flip.”
Merlier mentioned he wasn’t on his greatest type after racing the Giro d’Italia and was shocked to win the stage.
“I did not count on this. I do not suppose I am in prime type. I used to be a bit of afraid for my dash, particularly towards the brisker riders right here,” Merlier mentioned.
“I’ve completed this stage fairly a couple of instances earlier than, and I’ve by no means received a stage within the Tour of Belgium earlier than, so it is good to test this off the listing.”
Stage 1 winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) managed to maintain a slender lead within the common classification after coming seventh on the stage and snatching one of many intermediate dash bonuses.
“I used to be a bit of too drained to dash however I nonetheless have one second lead,” Wærenskjold mentioned. “After I got here into the end it was a bit of arduous so I did not have the most effective legs. I used to be too far again earlier than the dash, and the opposite guys have been a lot quicker.”
After the brief 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 virtually 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 Biking), Quentin Bezza (Philippe Wagner/Bazin), Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto Isorex) and Max Kroonen (Volkerwessels) getting a most of 1:45.
Because the race was 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 preventing for management. Philipsen discovered himself with Olav Kooij on his wheel and delayed his bounce, whereas Merlier took benefit of the delay to dash away to the stage win.
Outcomes
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