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.
Article continues below"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."
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
-
'I think UAE have a new plan' – Here's what rival team sports directors expect from Tadej Pogačar in Milan-San Remo
Increasing headwinds and wildcard Isaac del Toro might throw a wrench in attempt for one of Pogačar's missing Monuments -
Alec Segaert given yellow card for 'non-compliant position' during GP de Denain raid
Belgian docked 15 UCI points and 500 Swiss francs but keeps race victory -
Is Felt back? We wind tunnel tested the new 'Nexar' aero bike to see how it stacks up
A ground-up redesign of the aero bike for Felt, the Nexar is unrecognisable from the AR range -
Felt returns with an all-new aero bike: Good on paper, but a let-down in the real world
The Nexar is reasonably aero, extremely light, and an absolute handful to ride
