Scheldeprijs: Tim Merlier takes revenge on Jasper Philipsen

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) sprinted to victory at Scheldeprijs, getting the better of his Belgian rival Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

The pair have established themselves as the top sprinters in the world in 2024 and were recently involved in a heated clash at the Classic Brugge De Panne, where Philipsen came out on top as Merlier was held up when the pair collided.

Merlier had wondered whether he was too 'nice' in not shutting the door on Philipsen but this time he gave his rival no chance, hitting out with a ferocious sprint and winning by a comfortable margin.

Philipsen had looked to be in the stronger position with the stronger lead-out but Merlier was piloted forward late on and made no mistake, as his rival struggled for space and was forced to settle for second.

The podium was rounded out by Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla).

"It's always important to win a lot, so I'm very happy," said Merlier, who collected his seventh victory of the season.

"We were quite far back, then I moved alone a bit, then Bert [Van Lerberghe] came and he knows what to do. He brought me into a good spot and when I felt the moment there I started my sprint and I had enough to hold it."

• Read more: Nice and ruthless? Merlier-Philipsen clash at De Panne reveals contrasting characters

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Philipsen arrived late, but too late

Early echelons and a messy finish

The race known as the 'unofficial sprinter's world championship', taking its name from the river Scheldt, started out in the Netherlands, and the early passage through the exposed plains of Zeeland created some early damage in the crosswinds.

After a crash that took out a contender in Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), the peloton split into three echelons, and in the blink of an eye the early breakaway had been cancelled out. The drama would not last, however, and with 160km to go the groups came back together and the race settled down.

From there, it became more of a traditional sprinter's race, with the peloton proceeding calmly behind a new five-man breakaway: Liam Slock (Lotto Dstny), Baptiste Planckaert (Intermarche-Wanty), Vincent Van Hemelen (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise),Axel Huens (TDT-Unibet) and Stijn Appel (Beat Cycling).

They built a lead of four minutes, which was halved by the time they hit the finishing circuit around Schoten, Belgium, measuring 16km, tackled three times, and featuring a stretch of cobblestones on the Broekstraat.

The lead steadily dwindled to the point where the breakaway had to break up with two laps remaining, and it was Slock who was keen to split it up. His acceleration spelled the immediate end for Heuns, while Van Hemelen and Appel were tailed off soon after.

The remaining duo took a lead of 20 seconds onto the final lap as the bell rang out, and Slock proved himself the strongest of the day as he went solo soon after. He actually extended his lead back out to nearly half a minute but was doomed once the pace rose in the peloton, and was caught on the Broekstraat with 8km to go.

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Slock is caught on the cobbles

The race then became a battle to set up lead-out trains, with several teams all in contention. After Bora-Hansgrohe had played a prominent role, Tudor Pro Cycling and Lidl-Trek looked to muscle forward in the final few kilometres, but then things became messy when riders would surge to the front then sit up as they realised they'd become disengaged from their teammates.

Quick-Step and Alpecin were both caught out in this way, but Philipsen's men looked to have corrected things and looked to be on course for victory when they took four men through the flamme rouge at the head of affairs. However, Van Lerberghe expertly propelled Merlier onto the wheel of Bora-Hasngrohe's lead-out man, Danny van Poppel.

From there, Merlier was able to launch the sprint, as Philipsen was locked-in behind Groenewegen and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech). The Milan-San Remo winner eventually found a small gap and snuck through it but by then it was too late, and Merlier was already about to celebrate another feather in the cap of his growing palmarès.

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The podium ceremony