Merlier triumphs on home soil
After an attractive race in which the Limburg loop served as a backdrop for the attacking spirit, especially that of world champion Van der Poel, it ultimately ended in a bunch sprint in Hasselt. In this, Merlier was the fastest. He triumphed ahead of Kooij and Mihkels. Home rider Philipsen just missed a spot on the podium.
The starting pistol for the Men's Elite road race resounded at 12:30 in the shadow of the Sport Vlaanderen Heusden-Zolder Velodrome Limburg. After a number of attack attempts, the breakaway of the day was formed after about 13 km. Mathis Le Berre (France), Jonas Rutsch (Germany), Ivo Oliveira (Portugal), Felix Ritzinger (Austria) and Nils Brun (Switzerland) headed together towards the first passage around the Hasselt Loop.
The cooperation up front was far from ideal. Frenchman Le Berre did not work with the group, while his teammates joined Italy and France in limiting the time difference. The early break never gained an advantage of more than a minute and a half. In the opening hours of the race, the peloton rode faster than the fastest predicted schedule.
Between the first passages over Manshoven and Op de Kriezel, we saw multiple attack attempts. Dane Mads Würtz Schmidt and Luxembourger Arthur Kluckers tried to bridge the gap to the leading group. Shortly after the first cobblestoned sections, Mathieu van der Poel began to shake things up. On the Roman Cobblestones (113 km to go), the world champion attacked. However this attack did not get far. At the foot of the Kolmontberg, the field closed up again. For the breakaway group, their story was over halfway through the race. On the Kolmontberg and a little later on the Zammelenberg, there were new attacks, but the peloton kept the pace tight, neutralising these efforts.
On the second passage on the Manshoven cobblestones, it was again world champion Van der Poel who was setting the pace. Teuns managed to latch onto the world champion's wheel. But a successful escape eluded them. It was at this moment, just after the Manshoven cobblestones that Merlier suffered a puncture.
The world champion kept trying, setting the pace once again on the second climb of Op de Kriezel. This time he was joined by the Dane Bjerg and the Italian Trentin. Meanwhile, on the cobblestones of Op de Kriezel, Merlier was trying to rejoin the peloton. While Bjerg refused to take a turn at the front, Trentin was helping out. In the chase, it was the Belgians, French and Germans who tried to close the gap to the leaders (20 sec).
On the way to the Kolmontberg, the peloton broke into two sections. The first section, led by De Clercq, was able to join up with the leading group led by Van der Poel. And so a group formed at the front in which Philipsen and Merlier were the biggest absentees. On the Zammelenberg, Theunissen (Netherlands) was the one who went on the offensive. He was joined by Pedersen (Denmark) and Trentin. Behind them, for the umpteenth time, it was the world champion who attacked.
The situation in front was constantly changing. The peloton trailed the group in front by about 30 seconds, but they managed to catch up on the final Limburg loop. On Op de Kriezel, Pedersen deemed that his moment had come. He was joined by defending champion Laporte, Dutchman Van Poppel and the Luxembourger Kluckers. In the chase, Van der Poel managed to bridge the gap again, bringing Rutsch (Germany) with him. In the peloton, it was up to the Belgians and the Italians to close the gap.
With about 25km to go, it was over and out for the breakaway riders. A compact peloton rode towards the local lap in Hasselt. So was it going to be a bunch sprint? In the final kilometres on the city circuit in Hasselt, a few riders still tried to slip away from the peloton, but a bunch sprint seemed inevitable.
The Italians led the sprint for their leader Milan, but in the final straight it was Merlier (Belgium) who shot out like a jack-in-the-box. Dutchman Kooij came close, but Merlier sprinted convincingly to victory. Mihkels (Estonia) took third place, ahead of home rider Philipsen.
And so the first-ever European Championship road race title in Flanders was claimed by Merlier and this also happens to be the first European road race title for Belgium. Thus, day five of Limburg 2024 ended up being a final day with 2 moments of cycling history.