Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) claimed the stage 5 victory and the overall title at the Baloise Belgium Tour after a tense battle for time bonuses across three Golden Kilometres and the bunch sprint finale in Hoeilaart.
Philipsen started the day just two seconds behind overnight leader Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), and while he gained valuable seconds back in the Golden Kilometre sprints, it was the stage win that secured him the overall victory.
In the final reduced bunch sprint, Philipsen proved fastest, crossing the line ahead of Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché) in second and Max Kanter (XDS Astana) third on the day.
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"It's really nice to win the GC, my first ever, as well as in the Belgium Tour, the tour of my home country. It's very nice, and I'm very proud to win the final GC," Philipsen said. "Most of the preparation [for the Tour de France] is done. I'm just searching for some freshness, good legs and trying to be in my best shape possible."
The Baloise Belgium Tour concluded with an 183.5km pan-flat race from Gingelom into Hoeilaart, where they raced two large finishing circuits with three Golden Kilometres, offering 3, 2, 1 seconds in each sprint, and then 10, 6, 4 seconds at the end of the stage.
Stage 3 winner Aranburu started the day with a slim two-second lead on both Philipsen and Berckmoes, leaving the race for the overall title still very open to the very end, particularly with the three Golden Kilometres offering a maximum of nine seconds to any one rider if they won all three sprints.
An early breakaway included Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies), Zeno Moonen (Tarteletto-Isorex), Stijn Appel (BEAT CC p/b Saxo), Roan Konings (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel), Jocelyn Baguelin and Victor Hannes (Aarco) and Kay De Bruyckere (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team).
The seven riders held 1:30 into the first cobbled sector at the 80km mark - the halfway point of the stage - but by the time they reached the final two circuits, the gap was slashed to just a handful of seconds, and they were ultimately caught with 48km remaining.
With the bell ringing signifying the last lap, NSN Cycling led the field into what would almost certainly be a bunch sprint at the finish line.
Olivier Godfroid (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) took a flyer just ahead of the first of three back-to-back Golden Kiloemtres. He took the 3 seconds on the first Golden Kilometre with Philipsen taking 2 seconds and Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling) taking 1 second.
With the breakaway caught, Berckmoes took 3 seconds in the second Golden Kilometre, Philipsen took 2 seconds, and Askey took 1 second.
But Aranburu put forth a massive defence by winning the 3 seconds at the third and final Golden Kilometre, putting himself 1 second ahead of Philipsen in the GC before the final sprint in Hoeilaart.
Although there were several powerful attacks and short-lived breakaways, the field split apart and then merged back together heading into 10km to go.
Dylan van Baarle (Soudal-QuickStep), Milan Lanhove (Team Flanders-Baloise) and Jochem Kerckhaert (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) cleared the field, but with only 100 metres separating them, two sat up while Lanhove continued on alone, ultimately caught with 3km remaining.
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) was the next to go, but he was passed by a furious lead-out into the final kilometre with Philipsen winning the stage and the overall title in Hoeilaart.
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