Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the 5th and final stage of the Baloise Tour of Belgium, this Sunday in Brussels. The Belgian sprinter was ahead of his compatriots in the final race Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech). The general classification is won by the Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), leader since the first stage. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) joined in the sprint to try to dethrone the Yellow jersey at the last minute, but he failed in 4th place and therefore remained 2nd overall.
Tour of Italy 2024: Tim Merlier wins the 18th stage
The summary of the stage
There was no major difficulty for this last stage of the Tour of Belgium, over the 185.9 km to be covered in a circuit around Brussels. The small gaps in the general classification, however, promised a nervous race, and in the bonus sprint of the “golden kilometer”, the battle began between the leader Waerenskjold and his dolphin Vacek. It was the Norwegian who crossed the line first, in front Aranburu (Movistar) and Vacek. He thus increased his gap and was now 4 seconds ahead of the Czech in the Lidl-Trek.
The rest was a race towards the mass sprint, without any major event except a fall which involved 6 runners including Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). Jago Willems (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) secured the Combativity Prize for his part. In the last kilometers we witnessed a few skirmishes but the peloton was in control without problem. The last to try his luck was the French Gwen Leclainche (Philippe Wagner/Bazin), resumed 4 kilometers from the finish. The teams Uno-X Mobility And Intermarché-Wanty took charge in the very last kilometers.
2 km from the finish, Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) fell in a bend, along with his teammate Tim Van Dijke. It’s a big fish that was out for the sprint, and a new bowl for the Visma. The Belgian Jasper Philipsen almost fell into this fall but narrowly avoided it. It was he who launched the sprint in the final straight, but he was pulled up by Tim Merlier who had been placed in his wheel for several moments. The runner of the Soudal Quick-Step wins his 12th victory of the season. As for Soren Waarenskjoldwho finished 2nd in the event last year, at the age of 24 he won his second victory in a stage race, after the Tour of Poitou-Charentes 2023.
