Ronde van Limburg: Tim Merlier decimates field with searing sprint victory

Tim Merlier of Belgium and Team Soudal Quick-Step celebrates at finish line as race winner during Ronde Van Limburg 2026 a 178.4km one day race. (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images) — Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) wins second race of 2026 season (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) secured a commanding sprint victory to claim the win at Ronde van Limburg on Wednesday.

The Belgian launched his sprint on the right-side barriers and crossed the line by more than a bike length ahead of runner-up Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Floris Van Tricht (NSN Cycling) in Tongeren.

The peloton barrelled through the final corners and onto the finishing straight away led by Bahrain-Victorious, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.

The race finished on a slight rise to the finish line with Merlier biding his time until jumping inside 200 metres to go, first on the left side of the road, and when he appeared to easily clear his rivals moved to the right side of the road with a large margin over the rest of the field.

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"The final was quite hectic because there were still some attacks. My team was there, and we were still a bit back in the bunch. I knew that the last corner was important and I was in good position," Merlier said.

"It was a good pace and I felt already to launch from far. Gaviria was on my wheel and he is also someone who can go from far, so I decided with 300m to go to launch."

Ronde van Limburg treated the elite men's field to a 178.4km race from Hasselt and into Tongeren.

A breakaway of three; Mikita Babovich (Bahrain Victorious Development), Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek), and Jelle Vermoote (Tarteletto-Isorex) held a fast-decreasing one minute over the chasing peloton along the technical roads with 60km remaining.

Withen Philipsen continued on a solo attack move, starting at 54 kilometres to go and ending with 19 kilometres from the line was reeled in, Lotto-Intermarché and Lidl-Trek remained in contention.

The 100-strong bunch blasted onto the final sector of cobbles of Op de Kriezel with Jayco-AIUIa riders and Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) one of the best-placed sprinters.

Lidl-Trek, though were still very much bossing the race as it came into the last 10 kilometres, working for Tim Torn Teutenberg. Of the big favourite, though, Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) there was still no sign.

Seven kilometres from the line, there was a brief move by Florian Sénéchal (Alpecin-Permier Tech), Aimé De Gendt (Pinarell-Q36.5), Jens Verbrugghe (NSN Development), Dries Bondt (Jayco AlUla) and Fabio Van den Bossche (Souda-QuickStep) but when Teutenberg made it across in person, that didn't work out. The peloton was intact and set up for a sprint finish.

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Position	Rider (Country) Team	Time Gap
1	Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	03:55:58
2	Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	Row 1 - Cell 2
3	Floris Van Tricht (Bel) NSN Development Team	Row 2 - Cell 2
4	Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech	Row 3 - Cell 2
5	Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious	Row 4 - Cell 2
6	Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Cofidis	Row 5 - Cell 2
7	Tom Crabbe (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	Row 6 - Cell 2
8	Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Lidl-Trek	Row 7 - Cell 2
9	Milan Menten (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché	Row 8 - Cell 2
10	Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	Row 9 - Cell 2
11	Karsten Larsen Feldmann (Nor) Unibet Rose Rockets	Row 10 - Cell 2
12	Stefano Oldani (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	Row 11 - Cell 2
13	Alex Molenaar (Ned) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	Row 12 - Cell 2
14	Georgios Bouglas (Gre) Burgos Burpellet BH	Row 13 - Cell 2
15	David Dekker (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	Row 14 - Cell 2
16	Hugo Scala Jr (USA) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	Row 15 - Cell 2
17	Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	Row 16 - Cell 2
18	Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	Row 17 - Cell 2
19	Zeno Moonen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	Row 18 - Cell 2
20	Sente Sentjens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech	Row 19 - Cell 2
21	Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Team Jayco-AlUla	Row 20 - Cell 2
22	Marton Dina (Hun) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	Row 21 - Cell 2
23	Cesar Macias Estrada (Mex) Burgos Burpellet BH	Row 22 - Cell 2
24	Leander Van Hautegem (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	Row 23 - Cell 2
25	Frederik Frison (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:00:05
26	Born De Dobbelaere (Bel) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	0:00:05
27	Elmar Reinders (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets	0:00:05
28	Henri Alexandre Mayer (Mri) Burgos Burpellet BH	0:00:05
29	Camille Charret (Fra) Cofidis	0:00:05
30	Artuur Torney (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	0:00:09
31	Vojtech Kminek (Cze) Burgos Burpellet BH	0:00:09
32	Ezra Caudell (USA) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:00:09
33	Micheal Ben Wiggins (GBr) Team Jayco-AlUla	0:00:09
34	Nicolo Parisini (Ita) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:00:09
35	Rotem Tene (Isr) NSN Development Team	0:00:09
36	Robin Orins (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché	0:00:09
37	Leonardo Consolidani (Ita) Bahrain Victorious	0:00:09
38	Davide Persico (Ita) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	0:00:09
39	Nolan Huysmans (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	0:00:09
40	Brent Van Moer (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:00:09
41	Dries De Bondt (Bel) Team Jayco-AlUla	0:00:14
42	Miko Pirinen (Fin) NSN Development Team	0:00:14
43	Luca Cretti (Ita) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	0:00:14
44	Cesare Chesini (Ita) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	0:00:14
45	Kasper Borremans (Fin) Bahrain Victorious	0:00:16
46	Abram Stockman (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets	0:00:16
47	Tim Torn Teutenberg (Ger) Lidl-Trek	0:00:16
48	Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:00:19
49	Zsombor Takacs (Hun) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	0:00:19
50	Adam Toupalik (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets	0:00:19
51	Seth Dunwoody (Irl) Bahrain Victorious	0:00:21
52	Jens Verbrugghe (Bel) NSN Development Team	0:00:25
53	Hamish McKenzie (Aus) Team Jayco-AlUla	0:00:25
54	Jonah Killy (USA) Tarteletto-Isorex	0:00:25
55	Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	0:00:27
56	Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché	0:00:27
57	Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	0:00:29
58	Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Team Jayco-AlUla	0:00:31
59	Tim Marsman (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech	0:00:35
60	Milan Van Den Haute (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	0:00:35
61	Withen Philipsen Albert (Den) Lidl-Trek	0:00:38
62	Robin Carpenter (USA) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:00:42
63	Halvor Dolven (Nor) Lotto-Intermarché	0:00:42
64	Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Lidl-Trek	0:00:44
65	Kristian Egholm (Den) Lidl-Trek	0:00:44
66	Simon Dehairs (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech	0:00:45
67	Michiel Coppens (Bel) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	0:00:55
68	Florian Senechal (Fra) Alpecin-Premier Tech	0:00:55
69	Senna Remijn (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech	0:01:02
70	Ceriel Desal (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	0:01:02
71	Mauro Cuylits (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché	0:01:26
72	Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché	0:01:26
73	Aime De Gendt (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:01:29
74	Max Kroonen (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	0:01:32
75	Alessandro Borgo (Ita) Bahrain Victorious	0:01:36
76	Andrea Bessega (Ita) Lidl-Trek	0:01:36
77	Mats Vanden Eynde (Bel) Lidl-Trek	0:01:36
78	Yves Lampaert (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	0:01:40
79	Clement Izquierdo (Fra) Cofidis	0:01:41
80	Joeri Schaper (Ned) Soudal Quick-Step	0:01:58
81	Valentin Ferron (Fra) Cofidis	0:03:17
82	Alex Hewes (Aus) NSN Development Team	0:03:24
83	Matijs Van Strijthem (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step	0:03:24
84	Alberto Bruttomesso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious	0:03:24
85	Joppe Sterck (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	0:03:26
86	Noah Vandenbranden (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	0:04:18
87	Joost Brinkman (Ned) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	0:04:18
88	Victor Vercouillie (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise	0:04:18
89	Ben Oliver (NZl) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:04:18
90	Stijn Appel (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	0:04:23
91	Sam Bennett (Irl) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:04:28
92	Scott McGill (USA) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:05:15
93	Kamil Malecki (Pol) Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:05:24
94	Riley Pickrell (Can) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:05:24
95	Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team Jayco-AlUla	0:05:24
96	Nikita Babovich (Kaz) Bahrain Victorious	0:05:24
97	Brody McDonald (USA) Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:05:24
DNF	Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech	DNF
DNF	Bram Dissel (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	DNF
DNF	Jochem Kerckhaert (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	DNF
DNF	Marijn Maas (Ned) BEAT CC p/b Saxo	DNF
DNF	Adrian Fajardo Toledo (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH	DNF
DNF	Tomoya Koyama (Jpn) Burgos Burpellet BH	DNF
DNF	Joseba Lopez Cuesta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	DNF
DNF	Nicolas Debeaumarché (Fra) Cofidis	DNF
DNF	Barnabas Peak (Hun) MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort	DNF
DNF	Omer Ramon (Isr) NSN Development Team	DNF
DNF	Filip Smoras (Nor) NSN Development Team	DNF
DNF	Fabrice Lefevre (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	DNF
DNF	Axandre Van Petegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	DNF
DNF	Jelle Vermoote (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex	DNF
DNF	Filippo Conca (Ita) Team Jayco-AlUla	DNF
DNF	Ronan Auge (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets	DNF
DNF	Delano Swenne (Ned) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	DNF
DNF	Thor Verleysen (Bel) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	DNF
DNF	Jelle Weierink (Ned) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	DNF
DNF	Bas van Heeswijk (Ned) VolkerWessels Cycling Team	DNF

Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.

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