Merlier unstoppable in Baloise Belgium Tour as Baroncini secures overall win by slim margin

The queen stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour provided the necessary excitement. It was a chaotic day in the hills around Durbuy, where Ethan Hayter had to fight hard to keep his leader's jersey. He missed out by a narrow margin, as Filippo Baroncini finished fourth in the stage won by Jenno Berckmoes. With one stage to go, the Italian from UAE Team Emirates - XRG had a margin of only two seconds on his British rival. Still, the other competitors were also close behind: number 10 Axel van der Tuuk was only 23 seconds behind.

So there was still a lot at stake in the final stage, and a battle was expected, but despite that, six riders broke away from the start to seize their chance. It was an all-Dutch-Belgian affair: Dutchmen Jochem Kerckhaert (BEAT) and Roy Hoogendoorn (Metec - SOLARWATT) were joined by Michiel Hillen (Baloise Glowi Lions), Yorben Lauryssen (Pauwels Sauzen - Cibel Clementines), Dylan Vandenstorme (Flanders - Baloise) and Alex Vandenbulcke (Tarteletto - Isorex).

It was a nice breakaway group, of course, but they obviously had only a few chances. Their maximum lead was around 3 minutes, but the sprinter teams stayed close behind. The six held on to their lead until the golden kilometer, so nothing was left for the favorites for the overall victory. They had to do it at the finish line, but the top sprinters had their sights set on the final stage, which would make it difficult.

In the final, Hillen and Vandenbulcke managed to drop their fellow breakaway riders, but Uno-X Mobility, INEOS Grenadiers, and UAE Team Emirates - XRG all kept control. The breakaway riders were caught, and we were left waiting for a nervous sprint. The run-up to the sprint was disrupted by a nasty crash involving Oscar Riesebeek. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider tried to rejoin the peloton via the curb but crashed over the handlebars in a reckless maneuver.

This left Jasper Philipsen with one man down in the sprint train. He had to go it alone in the final kilometer, but it was a strange sprint, with the GC contenders also getting involved in the battle. Lotto brought Berckmoes through excellently, who would take the leader's jersey with a victory. In the end, it was Merlier who won, ahead of Molano. None of the GC contenders gained any seconds, so the overall victory went to Baroncini.