Did Jasper Philipsen say a little prayer after his defeat in the sprint in Knokke-Heist? The Flame from Ham was the fastest in the stage finishing in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem like last year. Olav Kooij and Gerben Thijssen completed the podium. Norway’s Søren Wærenskjold strengthened his leader’s position thanks to the Baloise Golden Kilometre and now has an 11-second lead ahead of Czech Mathias Vacek.
A leading group of seven riders formed almost immediately after the start: Lindsay De Vylder, Yorben Lauryssen, Jago Willems, Stijn Daemen, Quentin Bezza, Stijn Appel and Diego Pablo Sevilla. The seven got a maximum lead of 3:35 on the peloton.
The leading group started the two local laps of 49 kilometres each with a lead of around two minutes. Each lap was littered with climbs of Het Rot, Roeselberg and Kerkstraat. On the hilly course through the Hageland, the peloton was briefly shaken up.
At the first passage of the Kerkstraat, Jasper Stuyven pushed hard. Philipsen and Vacek had no trouble joining him as did a bunch of other riders. Further down the line, the peloton was split in two. Dane Kasper Asgreen had to chase, but in the final lap they all melted back together.
Still, there was spectacle after the early breakaway riders were caught. In the Baloise Golden Kilometre, leader Wærenskjold made his mark and took the full nine seconds.
Benoit Cosnefroy threw one last bombshell on the Kerkstraat, but the sprinters’ teams took the fuse out of the powder keg, they knew they had to sprint. Two hundred metres from the finish, Philipsen gave it his all and won convincingly. It was an encore for Philipsen who also won the stage with finish in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem last year.
In the general classification, Wærenskjold further extended his lead over Vacek thanks to his golden bonus seconds. However, the Czech remains leader in the X20 Bathrooms Youth Classification. Philipsen takes over the Ladbrokes points jersey from Tim Merlier. In the Super 8 Combativity classification, Lyndsay De Vylder replaces teammate Lars Craps.
