Belgian Road Championships: Tim Wellens secures men's road race title with 41km solo attack

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Remco Evenepoel second, Jasper Philipsen third in Binche as UAE rider proves the strongest in long race

BINCHE, BELGIUM - JUNE 29: Tim Wellens of Belgium celebrates at finish line as race winner during the 126th Belgian Road Championship 2025 - Men's Road Race a 230km one day race from Binche to Binche on June 29, 2025 in Binche, Belgium. (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Wellens took the win in Binche (Image credit: Getty Images)

UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Tim Wellens soloed to victory in the men's Belgian national championships road race, attacking riders including Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) 41km from the finish to claim the title.

It was an attritional, 230km race starting and finishing in Binche, in what is considered one of the hardest and most prestigious national championships. In the last 50km, a small leading group emerged, from which Wellens attacked, and no one could react.

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Despite its length, the 230km men's race was attacking and aggressive from the gun, with big-name riders and various breakaways getting involved in the first half of the race, though no clear breakaway of the day went – no one wanted to risk letting a group go that would have to be chased down.

Despite the calibre of riders who didn't make the split – like Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) – the second group seemed to be defeated fairly quickly, and the front group built up a solid lead.

Finally, as the riders were tiring, Wellens attacked at just the right moment with 41km to go, and when Evenepoel didn't immediately react, the UAE rider had the momentum to go solo, and he would not be caught again. The gap was never huge, but the chasing group disintegrated – partly thanks to Vermeersch's interference for his teammate – instead of working together, allowing Wellens to solo to the win.

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Matilda Price
Assistant Features Editor

Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported on the ground at all of the biggest events on the calendar, including the men's and women's Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Spring Classics and the World Championships. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.

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