Breakaway holds off the chasers in Belgium.
One week from bringing to a conclusion his perfect outing at the Tour de Hongrie, where he captured three stages and the points jersey, Tim Merlier made his first appearance in a one-day race since April’s Volta a Limburg.
The Grand Prix Criquielion, a 205km event featuring a couple of cobbled sectors and some small hills, is typically a race that comes down to a bunch sprint, but on Sunday there was a completely different script, as a four-man breakaway made it for the smallest of margins in Lessines, where this 31st edition finished.
The fast men’s teams, including Soudal Quick-Step, chased hard the escapees and almost caught them, but to the surprise of many, the group made it and Alessandro Borgo (Bahrain Victorious) took the win. A few seconds later, the peloton came home and Tim Merlier won that sprint, racking up his seventh top ten of the season.
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