Our rider remains in contention for the points jersey on home turf.

Stage 3 of the Belgium Tour was the longest of this edition, and just a couple of kilometers from the start, it saw the peloton pass by the Soudal HQ in Turnhout, where dozens of employees came out to greet the Soudal Quick-Step riders, who waved back at them as they continued their journey to Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, where the day was supposed to end.

On paper, the race was another opportunity for the sprinters, but those hoping to prevent a bunch gallop attacked in waves Friday afternoon, especially in the final 50 kilometers, which featured some short climbs that were perfect for such moves. Soudal Quick-Step controlled the stage, and at one point, our best placed rider in the general classification Kasper Asgreen shut down an attack with around 20 kilometers to go.

In the bunch sprint, Tim found himself in a good position entering the final kilometer, but just as he was preparing to kick out, he found himself boxed in, and despite the incredible speed he showed, the previous stage winner had to settle for fourth place, behind Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). In the overall ranking, both Kasper Asgreen and Josef Cerny are in the top ten ahead of the most important stage of the race.

 

Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images

Race details

1 Jasper Philipsen
Alpecin - Deceuninck
4:06:20
2 Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:00
3 Gerben Thijssen
Intermarché - Wanty
0:00
4 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
5 John Degenkolb
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:00
6 Lionel Taminiaux
Lotto Dstny
0:00
7 Luca Mozzato
0:00
8 Timothy Dupont
Tarteletto - Isorex
0:00
9 Jasper Stuyven
Lidl - Trek
0:00
10 Nicklas Amdi Pedersen
TDT - Unibet Cycling Team
0:00
56 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
73 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
89 Martin Svrček
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
90 Pepijn Reinderink
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
129 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
5:25
135 Warre Vangheluwe
Soudal Quick-Step
5:42
1 Søren Wærenskjold
Uno-X Mobility
8:18:54
2 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
0:11
3 Rune Herregodts
Intermarché - Wanty
0:22
4 Alec Segaert
Lotto Dstny
0:23
5 Jasper Stuyven
Lidl - Trek
0:25
6 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
0:26
7 Alex Aranburu Deba
Movistar Team
0:28
8 Daan Hoole
Lidl - Trek
0:30
9 Jasper Philipsen
Alpecin - Deceuninck
0:33
10 Damien Touzé
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:34
19 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
0:42
32 Martin Svrček
Soudal Quick-Step
0:53
63 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
1:16
112 Pepijn Reinderink
Soudal Quick-Step
3:17
123 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
5:58
142 Warre Vangheluwe
Soudal Quick-Step
8:45
1 Jasper Philipsen
Alpecin - Deceuninck
55 pt
2 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
49 pt
3 Olav Kooij
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
47 pt
4 Søren Wærenskjold
Uno-X Mobility
33 pt
5 Gerben Thijssen
Intermarché - Wanty
33 pt
6 Lionel Taminiaux
Lotto Dstny
32 pt
7 Jasper Stuyven
Lidl - Trek
19 pt
8 Pierre Barbier
Philippe Wagner/Bazin
19 pt
9 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
18 pt
10 John Degenkolb
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
17 pt
18 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
10 pt
23 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
6 pt
1 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
8:19:05
2 Alec Segaert
Lotto Dstny
0:12
3 Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:23
4 Iván Romeo Abad
Movistar Team
0:24
5 Joseph Blackmore
Israel - Premier Tech
0:36
6 Martin Svrček
Soudal Quick-Step
0:42
7 Pierre Gautherat
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:47
8 Dries De Pooter
Intermarché - Wanty
1:02
9 Colby Simmons
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
1:04
10 Kay De Bruyckere
Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal
1:06
18 Pepijn Reinderink
Soudal Quick-Step
3:06
1 Lidl - Trek 24:57:55
2 Lotto Dstny 0:26
3 Movistar Team 0:27
4 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 0:31
5 Soudal Quick-Step 0:36
6 Israel - Premier Tech 1:02
7 Intermarché - Wanty 1:02
8 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 1:07
9 Team Flanders - Baloise 1:09
10 Alpecin - Deceuninck 1:18

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