Beaten by Tim Merlier (Soudal – Quick Step) on Thursday, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) did not have to wait long to take his revenge. Once again perfectly placed by his team, the Belgian this time knew how to keep the lead and finish the job during the third stage of the Tour of Belgium, linking Turnhout to Scherpenheuvel-Zichem.
Behind, Merlier was trapped on the right of the road, blocked between the barriers and the wake of his competitors, and he had to settle for 4th place, behind the Dutchman Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a bike), second, and the Belgian Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), third in the stage.
In the general classification, the leader remains the Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), who consolidated his lead by moving into the lead of the golden kmincreasing his lead by nine seconds over his runner-up, the Czech Mathias Vacek (Soudal – Quick Step), relegated to 11 seconds.
Tense finale
With a paved area in the last 20 kilometers, the peloton was tense as it approached the finish. On the sidewalks, as per Belgian tradition, the runners had to use all their agility to navigate within a peloton moving at high speed. This cost the Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen (DSM – Firmenich PostNL) his race, victim of a fall 20 km from the goal, and arriving around ten minutes behind the winner of the day.
Saturday, it’s time for the queen stage of this tour of Belgium, which will wind around Durbuy, offering a series of difficulties, and where the general should be played out.
