Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) was the fastest in an uphill sprint taking the opening stage victory and first leader's jersey at the Baloise Belgium Tour in Knokke-Heist.
The European Champion launched his sprint at the bottom of the sharp incline, leaving behind a chaotic mass of sprinters jostling for position that nearly took down rival Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
He crossed the line with several bike lengths ahead of runner-up Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and third-placed Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech).
Merlier now leads the overall classification by four seconds ahead of Molano and six seconds ahead of Vernon as the race heads into stage 2 on Thursday.
How it Unfolded
The Baloise Belgium Tour kicked off with a 197km race from Merelbeke-Melle to Knokke-Heist on a pan-flat route that ended with four shorter circuits, including a Golden Kilometre on the penultimate circuit.
The Golden Kilometre offered three sprints, separated by 500m each: one at the start, one at the middle, and one at the exit of the kilometre. These are for the benefit of general classification riders, offering 3, 2, and 1-second time bonuses.
A breakaway formed mid-race that included Frits Biesterbos (BEAT Cycling Club), Dylan Vandenstorme (Flanders-Baloise), Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB), Yorben Lauryssen (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines), Victor Broex (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) and Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto-Isorex).
The six riders held a one-minute gap on the chasing field in the last 50km of the stage, but as they began attacking one another, their cohesion faltered, causing the gap to further reduce to 50 seconds.
Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Uno-X Mobility and Israel-Premier Tech did the lion's share of the work in setting the pace at the front of the peloton, and the breakaway riders were reeled back in before the Golden Kilometre sprints.
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) won the first sprint, Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) won the second, and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto) won the third for time bonuses, all securing three seconds, while Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) accumulated a total of three seconds by placing lower in the standings on multiple sprints.
Late-race attacks came from Olivier Godfroid (Baloise Glowi Lions) and Stijn Appel (BEAT Cycling Club) on the final lap, but their efforts were short-lived as Movistar and Israel-Premier Tech shut down the small gap.
There were a couple of crashes in the closing kilometres, but all involved managed to get back on their bikes. Zeno Moonen (Wanty-Nippo-ReUz) looked to have borne the worst of the accident, with torn shorts and needing a spare bike.
Soudal-QuickStep, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and Picnic PostNL stretched out the peloton with organised lead-outs in the final sprint, but as the roads kicked up, the peloton swelled, forcing their sprinters to jostle for position in the last 500 meters. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) nearly crashed but managed to keep his bike upright and finish the race.
It was Merlier who launched his sprint wide on the right-hand side of the road, removing himself from the chaos and crossing the finish line to take a commanding victory in the uphill sprint in Knokke-Heist.
Results
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