Tim Merlier won the 5th and final stage of the Tour de Belgique, run on Sunday over 186.2 kilometers around Brussels. The Soudal Quick-Step sprinter dominated the final race under the Atomium, while Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-x Mobility) did what was necessary during the stage to secure the overall victory.
In the final sprint, Merlier negotiated perfectly to get off the wheel of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and get ahead of him on the line. Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech) completed a black-yellow-red podium, at the foot of which failed the Czech Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), contender for the general classification.
Tim Merlier thus won a second victory on the Tour of Belgium, after his success in Knokke during the 2nd day. This is the 12th success of the season for the former Belgian champion, the 46th of his career.
Winner of the inaugural time trial, Soren Waerenskjold kept his purple jersey throughout the event. He was seriously pushed by Vacek, who had taken advantage of the ‘Golden Kilometer’ of the penultimate stage to close to 2 seconds. Finally, the leader of the general classification ensured on the last day by winning one of the three sprints of the ‘Golden Kilometer’ to validate the final victory.
Waerenskjold won with a handful of seconds ahead of Matias Vacek, and thus succeeds the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel on the winners list of the event. At the same time, he celebrates his 9th career victory, the 3rd this season. The Spaniard Alex Aranburu (Movistar), winner of the 4th stage, failed to distinguish himself in the final to defraud his competitors.
