Baloise Belgium Tour: Mark Cavendish wins final sprint as Remco Evenepoel secures overall title

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Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) sealed overall victory at the Baloise Belgium Tour, as teammate Mark Cavendish emotionally won the final sprint stage in Beringen. 

Evenepoel won the 11km time trial stage on the second day of racing and then Deceuninck-QuickStep carefully defended his blue leader’s jersey. Teammate Yves Lampaert finished second overall at 46 seconds, with Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto-Isorex) third at 56 seconds. New Zealand's 19-year-old Finn Fisher-Black of the Jumbo-Visma development team continued to impress, finishing fourth overall at 1:04. 

 Cavendish was given another superb lead-out by his teammates and especially by last man Michael Morkov. He then stayed along the barriers as the other sprinters fanned across the road but had the speed to win with a bike throw. 

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) was second, with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) third, Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) fifth. 

Cavendish screamed at the motorbike television camera and then hugged his teammates in celebration. It was his 151 career victory. 

“I’m just incredibly happy,” Cavendish said emotionally.  “Honestly, I don’t remember drag-stripping someone where the lead changed so much in the final 200 metres. Tim Merlier is arguably the best sprinter at the moment and to match him, and then the lead changed and changed, and then I started going ahead, and to win makes me over the moon. 

“It’s my first Tour of Belgium, we’re a Belgium team, and I’ve won with this field and this incredible Deceuninck-QuickStep team.” 

Evenepoel endured a difficult Giro d’Italia but seems to have his season and career back on track with victory on home roads in Belgium. He will now target the Belgian national time trial and road race championships and then prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. 

“For me, this means a real lot. After my comeback and my long, long rehabilitation, hard training and a lot of setbacks as well, it feels amazing,” Evenepoel said. 

“It’s a big relief to win the TT and the GC, too. It shows I’m on the right track to return to my top level. This is a big thank you to everyone who supported me and who helped me in this hard period. Of course, it’s also nice to have this win in the pocket while considering the future.”   

How it unfolded

The 178km stage always seemed destined to end in a sprint but Jordi Bouts e Piotr Havik (BEAT Cycling), Ryan Kamp (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), Cyril Lemoine (B&B Hotels KTM) e Corné Van Kessel (Intermarché Wanty Gobert Matériaux) formed the day’s break after a fast start.

Deceuninck-QuickStep lead the chase because Lemoine was only 2:05 down in the overall classification but when the three finishing circuits around Beringen began, the break was under control at 1:10.

Lotto-Soudal, Bora-Hansgrohe and Alpecin-Fenix also helped with the chase, closing down attacks from Beat Cycling riders.

Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) moved up to fifth overall thanks to taking bonus seconds at the Golden kilometre, where Evenepole also picked up three seconds.  

Deceuninck-QuickStep matched Lotto Soudal going into the final kilometre and then Markov protected and guided Cavendish as their rivals fought for position. Merlier went early but Cavendish matched him in a drag match on opposite sides of the road. Merlier edged clear but Cavendish finished strong to win.