Bunch sprint in Roeselare after late attack gets caught agonizingly close to the line.
Sunday was an important day for the Wolfpack Nation, as Tim Merlier made his return to racing, pinning a number for the first time since last October. The Belgian, one of the best sprinters in the world, came to the start with the main goal of regaining his rhythm and racking up kilometers in order to gradually build his form.
Soudal Quick-Step controlled the 202.5km race, which ran its 15 th edition on Sunday, bringing back the original breakaway and keeping things together until the last 20 kilometers, when a seven-man group zipped away. Our team made sure of sending Stan Van Tricht in that move that in the blink of an eye built a 20-second gap on the peloton. The latter, favoured by the long, straight roads, clawed back time, but the escapees somehow managed to go under the flamme rouge with a slim gap.
For a brief moment, it looked as if they would give the peloton the slip, but the chasers came back at a different speed and reeled them in just 200 meters from the line. Van Tricht still had something left in the legs and started his sprint just as the catch was made, which saw him come home as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider.
Tim Merlier too finished with the main bunch, a couple of positions back, and was content with his race and the feelings he had throughout the day.
I look back with satisfaction on my first race of the season.
“Today I was really able to do what I set out to do and was well positioned at the front in the final. As I said, this was above all an ideal training race for me. As soon as I realised that winning wasn’t on the cards, I felt it straight away in my legs – that’s the winner in me coming to the surface. If you look at the numbers, it was a strong training session in any case, with an average of almost 50km/h. My knee has been pain-free for several weeks now, and that’s ultimately the most important thing.”
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