Simon Geschke (Cofidis) meets the fans at start prior to the 18th Sparkassen Mnsterland Giro 2024(Image credit: Getty Images)
Biniam Girmay (Intermarche Wanty) prior to the 18th Sparkassen Mnsterland Giro 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Jasper Philipsen ahead of Sparkassen Münsterland Giro(Image credit: Getty Images)
Simone Consonni competes during the 18th Sparkassen Mnsterland Giro 2024(Image credit: Getty Images)
Arno Claeys, Tosh Van Der Sande, Jarno Grixa and Adrien Maire compete in the breakaway during the 18th Sparkassen Mnsterland Giro 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed the victory in the 2024 Sparkassen Münsterland Giro, a ProSeries race in Munster, Germany on Thursday.
The Belgian easily beat Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) with Milan Fretin (Cofidis) making a late burst of speed to take third.
A breakaway escaped early in the 202-kilometre race from Haltern Am See, with Jannik Steimle (Q36.5), Adrien Maire (TDT Unibet), Jarno Grixa (P&S Metaltechnik Benotti), Luca Dreßler (Lotto Kern-Haus PSD Bank), Sebastian Niehues (REMBE Sauerland), Arno Claeys (Flanders-Baloise) and Tosh van der Sande (Visma-Lease a Bike) gaining a maximum of three minutes before being brought back by the sprinters' teams.
The escape group began to fall apart after the 50km to go mark, with the Hotel Weissenburg ascent shedding Grixa and Claeys. Lotto Dstny and Alpecin-Deceuninck pushed the pace, catching the breakaway with 23km to go, and just after, an acceleration on an unnamed climb shot Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) out the back of the pack.
Alpecin-Deceuninck were in full control heading into the final two kilometres, but accelerations from Uno-X, Jayco-AlUla and Lidl-Trek put the Dutch team on the back foot. Intermarché-Wanty made a big push for Girmay, bringing him to the front just before Meeus launched his acceleration.
The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider had Philipsen on his wheel, however, and only proved to be the perfect lead-out for Philipsen, who stomped away to a decisive stage win.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
