Tim Merlier out sprints Dylan Groenewegen at the Flanders Championship

The Flanders Championship kicked off on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in Koolskamp. The riders faced a total of 180.4 kilometers, spread over twelve almost entirely flat local laps. The course had virtually no elevation gain and was therefore once again tailor-made for the sprinters.

The first few hours of the race were dominated by the traditional battle between the attackers and the sprinters’ teams. With twelve passes through Koolskamp, the teams were constantly aware of the gap, and the race remained relatively easy to control. Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech were two of the many teams that took control.

With 14 kilometers to go, after a race in which the wind only managed to gain a foothold on the peloton very occasionally, the last early breakaway rider was caught. All attention could thus turn to the royal sprint, with the final 2.5 kilometers toward Koolskamp being almost entirely straight, allowing all the trains to line up neatly.

Lidl-Trek and Uno-X Mobility put in a strong performance in the final kilometers, but as is often the case, Merlier and The Wolfpack chose the right moment to move up and sprint. Not even a perfect lead-out by Unibet Rose Rockets for Groenewegen could prevent Merlier from moving to the front in time; in the sprint, he was simply unstoppable.

1. Tim Merlier - Soudal Quick-Step
2. Dylan Groenewegen - Unibet Rose Rockets ''
3. Søren Wærenskjold - Uno-X Mobility ''
4. Arvid de Kleijn - Tudor
5. Jasper Philipsen - Alpecin-Premier Tech