Renewi Tour stage 1: Jasper Philipsen sprints to victory in chaotic finish

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won his 11th race of an already emphatic season on stage 1 of the Renewi Tour.

The Belgian burst from the pack to open his sprint early and had more than enough to hold off his rivals before celebrating on the line.

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) had a perfect lead-out from his team but he was no match for Philipsen who powered clear with over 150m to go, with Tim Merlier (Soudal QuickStep) taking second and Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) finishing third.

Philipsen takes the first leader’s jersey of the race.

The early break had comprised of Ludovic Robeet (Bingoal WB), Aaron Van Poucke (Team Flanders), Cériel Desal (Bingoal WB), Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates), and Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost).

The five leaders were never given a free hand and were only able to establish a lead of a handful of minutes before the finishing circuit around Ardooie.

Several sprint teams looked to take control in the closing stages and when the remnants of the break were reeled in with 17.5km to go it was Alpecin, Bora-Hansgrohe and Lotto-Dstny who set about pace duties on the front of the peloton.

With 1.8km to go Sam Welsford (dsm-firmenich) hit the deck on a tight right-hand corner, with the bunch splitting into several groups as the pace continued to rise.

Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) hit the front through the final stages with a view of leading out Elia Viviani but it was Lotto-Dstny that moved to the front with 800m to go.

De Lie came off his leadout man with the line in sight but he was left trailing when Philipsen went to the right and opened his sprint.

“It was hectic and I already noticed with a few laps to go but my team kept me safe and in a good position. They protected me. That was the key to success today,” Philipsen told GCN/Eurosport at the finish.

Merlier had to come from well down in the peloton but had a huge turn of speed that carried him to second, while Kooij powered home for third.

Breakaway rider Covi sits second overall, two seconds down on Philipsen after picking bonus seconds at intermediate sprints during the stage.

The race returns with a time trial on Thursday.

If you head to our Renewi Tour landing page, you will find everything you need to know about the race, including our race preview, the route, and start list. Check it out for all that and more.