Tour de Wallonie: Jordi Meeus powers to stage 1 sprint win

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Madis Mihkels second, Paul Penhoët third in Fleurus bunch finish

Jordi Meeus wins stage 1 of the Tour de Wallonie
Jordi Meeus wins stage 1 of the Tour de Wallonie (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening stage of the 2024 Tour de Wallonie, powering away from the rest of the sprint field in the final 250 metres into Fleurus.

Third place Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) was led out best round the final corner after some riders went the wrong direction with 1.5km to go and crashed, however, he was quickly overhauled by Madis Mihkels (Intermarché-Wanty) and Meeus, who stormed up the left-hand side to take victory.

It's the 11th win in the career of Meeus and the second since his famous win on the Champs Élysées at last year's Tour de France. It's also the second for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe since their new title sponsor came on board in June.

"It was a pretty hard stage, also pretty hectic with 1.5km to go when some guys crashed but I managed to stay in a good position and launch my sprint at the perfect time," said Meeus after the stage.

"For sure this victory wouldn't have been possible without them. Not so many sprinters in this race so a lot of riders wanted to ride away with a small break but my team did a perfect job with keeping everything together and I'm super happy to finish it off."

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James Moultrie
James Moultrie
News Writer

James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.

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