Tim Merlier was our top finisher on the last race day of the year.
The 23rd season in the history of the team – another incredibly successful one – ended Sunday afternoon at the Tour of Holland. The fourth and final stage of the race should have been one for the sprinters, after the organisers decided to take out the gravel section due to safety reasons, but ended up belonging to a breakaway.
Truth being said, the entire day was an eventful one, as attacks came thick and fast from kilometer zero, only for the peloton to react to all these moves and keep things together on the circuit. It was only more than 70 kilometers into the stage that a breakaway went, and when this happened, both Yves Lampaert and Tim Merlier were there for Soudal Quick-Step. In the blink of an eye, the escapees built a one-minute lead over the peloton, at which point those in the large group behind joined hands and started a fierce chase which resulted in the junction being made inside the last 50 kilometers.
A new breakaway formed, and our team remained prominent, setting the tempo in the field with Ayco Bastiaens and Pepijn Reinderink, who cut the deficit to just 20 seconds by the time they entered the final lap. There, Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) attacked and joined the leaders, together with whom he managed to hold off the bunch for just a few seconds, taking the win at the end of the day.
Merlier proved to be the fastest from the peloton, coming home in the top five and bringing his incredibly successful season to a conclusion, while teammate Yves Lampaert, who came home in the same time, finished sixth on the general classification.
“I’m happy with the last week of the season, as we took three wins and left our mark on this race. I would have loved to win again today, especially as I felt good, but the breakaway managed to stay clear”, said Tim after the stage. “Overall, I’m really proud of my season, as I won many races and showed that I was worthy of wearing the European Champion’s jersey. Now it’s time for some rest, but I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Photo credit: ©Cor Vos
