Jordi Meeus wins Binche–Chimay–Binche ahead of Nils Eekhoff, while Christophe Laporte marks first result after lingering illness

Two days after the European Championships, it was time for prestigious one-day races in both Italy (Tre Valli Varesine) and Belgium (Binche-Chimay-Binche). In the women's race, Lorena Wiebes won her race in Binche in the morning, taking her 25th victory (!) of the current season with a famous sprint.

Meanwhile, the men had already set off for their race, without two of the key players. De Lie had to drop out on behalf of Lotto due to illness, while Soudal Quick-Step had to do without Tim Merlier after a crash in Friday's Münsterland Giro. This did not make the race any less exciting, as the two Belgian teams now had to go on the attack.

Aimé De Gendt (Cofidis), Jonas Geens (Flanders-Baloise), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty), Abram Stockman (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal-Quick Step), and Gaëtan Verleyen (Atom 6 Bikes-Decca) opted early in the race for a ticket to the early breakaway, but they had to return it fairly quickly: the peloton gave them little leeway.

The big names got involved in the battle early on, with outsiders such as Jenno Berckmoes, Alec Segaert (Lotto), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates), and Rex (Intermarché-Wanty). Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech), Jochem Kerckhaert (BEAT Cycling Club), and Tim Marsman (VolkerWessels) were in the front line.

From this group, Abrahamsen, Segaert, Vermeersch, Sheehan, and Campenaerts lasted the longest, but the peloton saw the danger. A new attempt by Niklas Behrens (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech), among others, was also doomed to failure shortly after.

Meanwhile, the peloton also split, with top favorite Jasper Philipsen and most of his Alpecin-Deceuninck team ending up on the wrong side of the coin. This meant they were eliminated from contention for the victory at an early stage.

After a brief status quo, the race reignited 40 kilometers from the finish, led by Campenaerts, but as earlier in the race, the Belgian was unable to break away immediately. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE) and Pierre Thierry (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) did manage to do so, building up a half-minute lead.

In the background, Campenaerts kept working hard, bringing the duo's story to an end after the penultimate passage in Binche. The peloton seemed to have everything under control heading into the final, uphill kilometer. Israel-Premier Tech and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in particular were aiming for a sprint.

Heading into the decisive final phase, Groupama-FDJ positioned themselves at the front, but Intermarché-Wanty were also well placed at the start of the cobbled section. In the end, Abrahamsen was the first to attack, but the top sprinters were hot on his heels. Meeus proved to be the fastest, ahead of Nils Eekhoff and Christophe Laporte, among others. The Frenchman from Visma | Lease a Bike achieved his first result after a long absence.