Tim Merlier cleverly won the Scheldeprijs. The Soudal Quick-Step sprinter had a puncture at an apparently crucial moment, but came back and showed himself to be the fastest. Jasper Philipsen came second, but was never able to really sprint, as he was a bit boxed in. Dylan Groenewegen came third, Cees Bol fourth. So we could certainly speak of a dream stage.
205 flat kilometers through Belgium, but after a start in the Netherlands (in Terneuzen to be precise). This is how we could describe the Scheldeprijs, which again had a traditional route, again this year. A sprinters’ race par excellence, some even call it the unofficial sprinters’ World Cup. In terms of favorites, it was logically the gentlemen from the sprinters’ guild who were at the top of the list. Philipsen seemed to be the man to beat, with Merlier in particular as his main competitor. After a mishap in the Classic Brugge-De Panne, the latter (then second) seemed eager for revenge. The wind also had to be taken into account, as the Scheldeprijs can always be very busy in that area.
Outsider Gerben Thijssen off course after an early crash
At 1 p.m. the official starting shot was fired, after which there was an immediate attack. A handful of riders immediately tried to escape. And with success. Liam Slock (Lotto-Dstny), Daniel Arnes (Uno-X), Mirko Bozzola (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Bram Dissel (Beat) and Peder Dahl Strand (Tarteletto-Isorex) managed to create a nice gap with the five of them (read: cycling a lead of two minutes). Once that quintet seemed to have left, there was a commotion in the peloton. Several riders choked – at high wind speeds – in a turn, with Gerben Thijssen and Arne Marit (both Intermarché-Wanty) as the biggest victims. Thijssen had to leave the match immediately for an examination of his ankle to the hospital (later Marit also left the match).
After that crash, there were splits in the peloton, which also caused confusion. But in principle we could say that there were three groups at that time, with two platoons after the leading group. The first group consisted of about fifty riders, while Soudal Quick-Step tried to control the leading group. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s denim shirts were also well represented. BORA-hansgrohe (Sam Welsford) and Lidl-Trek (Edward Theuns) had clearly missed the battle and had to give chase.
Read more below the tweet!
= data-service=”twitter”>
Lotto-Dstny talent Slock very active
It was tense for a while, but the two large ‘platoon blocks’ regrouped – fortunately for Welsford and co – after all. After one hour of racing we had reached an average speed of fifty kilometers per hour, which just showed how fast we were going. The number of assignments also increased noticeably, with Florian Sénéchal, for example. The initial leading group was also caught by the ropes, after which we had to wait for a new tête de la course. And it came, with Baptiste Planckaert (Intermarché-Wanty), the attacking Slock (Lotto-Dstny), Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders-Baloise), Axel Huens (Tour de Tietema) and Stijn Appel (Beat). In short, once again a quintet. There was a bit more peace in the peloton. BORA-hansgrohe carried out a remarkable amount of pursuit and control work.
Traditionally, the local circuit in and around Schoten had to be conquered several times. After a brutal opening phase, peace seemed to have returned in Schoten, a municipality close to Antwerp. Yet the weather was very unpredictable, with occasional heavy but short showers. Yet a sprint seemed unavoidable, especially as more and more sprinter teams became involved in the pursuit debates.
Merlier suffers a puncture at a crucial moment, comes back and wins the Scheldeprijs: Philipsen and Groenewegen on the podium
The leading group was torn apart considerably on the local circuit, leaving us with only Slock – who had a very strong day – and Planckaert. In short, a Flemish duo at the forefront. Shortly after starting the last lap – we still had seventeen kilometers to go – Planckaert also thought it was nice. The veteran opted for relief in his legs and allowed himself to be captured by the peloton. Lotto-Dstny’s top talent therefore automatically started a solo venture. At ten kilometers from the finish, the twenty-something man had a lead of thirty seconds, although there was no expectation that he could successfully complete his mission.
Merlier had a puncture at a fairly important moment – about ten kilometers from the finish – but the entire Wolfpack pack dropped out and the sprint leader was able to be brought back into position. That was necessary, because we were going to sprint in Schoten. Three kilometers from the finish, Philipsen was still quite far away, but when he had to be there, he was there. The Flame of Ham was guided forward with an impressive train, but “Merlier and his crew” also arrived at a great moment. In the final sprint it was Merlier who showed himself to be supreme and sprinted strongly to victory. Philipsen was somewhat boxed in. and didn’t really get involved.
= data-service=”twitter”>
Result Scheldeprijs 2024
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Read the Scheldeprijs 2024 here in our live blog
