photo credits @ Scheldeprijs
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) emerged victorious in today’s Scheldeprijs, out-sprinting Jasper Philipsen(Alpecin-Deceuninck) for the second year in a row, while Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5) rounded out the podium in third.
With 12km to go, a massive crash plagued the field, ensnaring many race favorites, and leaving only a few dozen riders in contention.
However, Merlier remained composed throughout the ordeal, rapidly chasing his way back to the peloton during the final few kilometers.
From there, the Belgian launched his sprint with 500 mers to go, blazing past Philipsen just before the line to snatch the victory.
Earlier, the cobbled race saw a small breakaway group of 8 riders escape the peloton early on, subsequently building up a modest advantage of around 3:30.
Meanwhile, heavy crosswinds shattered the peloton into 3 echelons with 150km to go.
Back up front, the escapees’ lead continued to fall, with only four of the original breakaway riders still out front with 100km still to go.
However, the breakaway managed to stretch its lead back out to 1:20 with 52km remaining.
Back in the chase, Lidl-Trek took over from Quickstep during the first of three 16.9-kilometer circuits around Schoten, bringing the gap back below the minute mark again.
With two laps to go, the breakaway’s lead was down to 48 seconds with the sprinters’ teams patiently waiting to make their final surge to reel in the last of the escapees.
With the breakaway now caught, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe led the peloton across the Broekstraat cobbles but ceded to Lidl-Trek on the paved section of the run-in along the Schelde, while Merlier found himself at the end of the peloton before making his way up to the front under the 1km banner, slotting into sixth wheel behind Lidl-Trek for Theuns.
Heading into the final few hundred meters, Philipsen got the jump first but Merlier proved to be the stronger of the two, powering past his rival to seize the day’s honors.
