Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen finally sprint against each other for real at the Baloise Belgium Tour

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won stage two of the Baloise Belgium Tour on Thursday in Knokke-Heist. On the characteristic finish towards De Wandelaar, he was the fastest of the peloton on the slightly uphill coastal finish. Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) finished second and third.

Ahead of stage one, attention had focused primarily on the three top sprinters: Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen and Olav Kooij. But it was a fourth dog that ran off with the bone, in the shape of NSN sprinter Biniam Girmay, who rounded off a superb lead-out in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem.

Stage two took the peloton further west. Starting in Merelbeke-Melle, finishing in Knokke-Heist on the coast — another chance for the sprinters, with the three aforementioned names still hungry for a win. Despite that, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM decided to call the bluff: they left the work to Soudal Quick-Step and NSN.

That was behind a breakaway of six riders — Michiel Hillen (Baloise), Jonah Killy (Tarteletto), Stijn Appel (BEAT), Victor Broex (Metec-Solarwatt), Viktor Hannes (Arco) and Viktor Vandenberghe (Pauwels Sauzen) — who were never given more than two and a half minutes' advantage by the main field.

With just over seventy kilometres to the finish, the race hit the local coastal circuit, where crashes are always a risk. And so it proved: with forty kilometres to go, Joren Bloem (Unibet Rose Rockets), Lyndsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek) went down. The last of the three was on the ground the longest, but eventually continued.

Meanwhile, the peloton was kept busy by the leaders, who also split the Golden Kilometre bonus sprint between them, and XDS-Astana joined in too, working for Max Kanter. That was necessary, given Alpecin-Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM were still holding back heading into the final ten kilometres. Even so, the pressure building towards the front of the main field naturally caused the leaders' advantage to dwindle.

With nine kilometres to go, Hannes was the last escapee to be hauled in, after which the sprinters' teams took up their positions. Decathlon CMA CGM hit the front with full force with two kilometres remaining, while Cofidis also appeared to have things under control. Alpecin-Premier Tech watched on from slightly further back.

In the final stretch, it was Astana and Soudal Quick-Step who led the charge, before Bert Van Lerberghe drove flat out into the final straight. Merlier then launched characteristically early, and saw Kooij and Philipsen close in, but he held on for his third stage win in Knokke-Heist.