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Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) claimed his eleventh win of the season and put his identify increased on the record 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 gained three phases of the Giro d’Italia, the Scheldeprijs, Nokere Koerse, three phases within the UAE Tour and two within the AlUla Tour thus far 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 best second,” Merlier stated. “We did not have numerous pace due to the headwind. I knew we had all the pieces below management within the last kilometres, and I managed to get into a superb place. I intentionally stayed within the wheels after the final flip.”
Merlier stated he wasn’t on his finest type after racing the Giro d’Italia and was stunned to win the stage.
“I did not count on this. I do not assume I am in high type. I used to be a bit afraid for my dash, particularly towards the brisker riders right here,” Merlier stated.
“I’ve achieved this stage fairly just a few instances earlier than, and I’ve by no means gained a stage within the Tour of Belgium earlier than, so it is good to examine this off the record.”
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 a bit too drained to dash however I nonetheless have one second lead,” Wærenskjold stated. “After I got here into the end it was a bit arduous so I did not have one of the best legs. I used to be too far again earlier than the dash, and the opposite guys had been a lot sooner.”
After the quick opening time trial, the sprinters had been extremely motivated to contest stage 2 of the 2024 Tour of Belgium, an 184.2-kilometre stage from Merelbeke to Knokke-Heist. The largely flat stage had some climbs and cobbles acquainted to riders from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Nokere Koerse, however these obstacles had 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 stored the hole to an easy-to-close stage.
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) gained 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 leap, whereas Merlier took benefit of the delay to dash away to the stage win.
Outcomes
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