The European Champion finished sixth in the second bunch sprint of the week.
Ardooie is one of the traditional finishes at the Renewi Tour, a town where the race has finished on numerous occasions, bringing the sprinters to the fore. It wasn’t any different this Thursday, when the peloton concluded there after a stage which should have been quiet, on paper, but turned out to be very stressful because of the wind.
As soon as the peloton caught the breakaway with 100 kilometers to go, numerous riders tried to split the bunch in the echelons, some of them even opening a gap. Soudal Quick-Step remained attentive the whole time, shutting down these attacks and keeping things together, even after the Green Kilometer, where the general classification riders fought for bonus seconds.
The stage continued to be a fast one, and this ended up taking its toll on some riders in the sprint, where the lead-out trains had a hard time organising themselves. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) took the victory, while GC leader Tim Merlier finished sixth – a result which will see him start the stage to Geraardsbergen with the leader’s jersey on his shoulders.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
