Tim Merlier storms to victory at the Eneco Tour; Campenaerts gives Visma a reason to celebrate
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Follow us on GoogleTim Merlier won the final stage of the Eneco Tour. The Belgian rider from Soudal Quick-Step was by far the strongest in the sprint, even though Unibet Rose Rockets tried to catch him off guard with a trick. Dylan Groenewegen finished second again. Victor Campenaerts won the overall classification for Visma | Lease a Bike.
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We had just wrapped up a truly fantastic edition of the Eneco Tour. Race leader Jakob Söderqvist was dropped near Watersley, after which Flanders-Baloise claimed victory on the VAM climb, with Victor Vercouille. Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) was in the lead and had just one stage left to survive to clinch the overall victory.
Merlier has made a habit of winning by lengths in 2026.
Unibet Rose Rockets controlled the breakaway for Groenewegen
The course in Arnhem was indeed challenging. Around Burgers' Zoo, the route kept going up and down, but it never got truly tough. The fact that Dylan Groenewegen became Dutch champion here in 2024 says it all. Still, it wasn’t a stage to be underestimated.
Marijn Maas (BEAT), Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK), and Mattanja Woets (VolkerWessels) certainly provided some excitement early in the day.
They were part of the early breakaway group. Ottema, wearing the red jersey for most combative rider, was riding his final professional race as a road cyclist and made the most of it.
But thanks to the efforts of teams including Visma | Lease a Bike and Unibet Rose Rockets, the peloton wasn’t far behind in the final hour of the race. That’s when Woets was dropped from the breakaway, leaving Ottema and Maas to continue together.
Continue reading below the video
Red Bull on the offensive
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe then threw a wrench into the works with the very young Michiel Mouris. He broke away, joined the leading group, and managed to shake off Ottema. Maas kept going for a little while longer, but had to let go with twelve kilometers to go. The nineteen-year-old Mouris continued solo, but with only a small lead over the pack.
Just as he was being caught, a nasty crash occurred in a turn. We saw riders from Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, and Lotto-Intermarché hit the asphalt hard, but fortunately, the damage wasn’t any worse. Meanwhile, the finish line was getting closer and closer, and the sprinter teams began to organize themselves.
Dylan Groenewegen, in particular, had an impressive lead-out train, with four riders in front of him. The train was so strong, in fact, that a gap opened up behind Tim Merlier, who was on Groenewegen’s wheel. Groenewegen then let a gap open up to his teammates, but Merlier didn’t let him gain any ground. He simply started his sprint 500 meters from the finish line and won once again by a landslide.
Results of Stage 5 of the 2026 Eneco Tour
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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