Milan denies Kooij in chaotic sprint showdown on Renewi Tour stage 1

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) darted to victory on stage 1 of the Renewi Tour in Diest ahead of Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) after a late catch of the breakaway.

A strong five-man breakaway kept the sprinters’ teams honest throughout the opening 191.3km stage in the inclement weather conditions.

On the final ascent of the Grasbos climb with 11km to go, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked from the bottom, and combined with a crash involving a Tudor rider, there was a dangerous group of six riders that broke clear from the peloton. 

The group included Vermeersch, the defending champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché), Mick van Dijke, Tim van Dijke, Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek).

The move was frantically chased down, but the original breakaway still held an advantage of over 20 seconds inside the final 4km ahead of a splintered peloton.

Lidl-Trek, Red Bull and Quick-Step regained control of the peloton inside the final 3km in a desperate attempt to claw back the breakaway, who were on the verge of a significant upset.

However, some brief moments of hesitation from those out front gave the peloton the opportunity to make the catch inside the final 600m.

In the end, it was the Italian champion who found the space to open up his sprint and strided to an advantage, narrowly holding off Kooij, who made a late charge.

After a series of attacks in the opening phase of the stage, a strong five-man breakaway eventually established itself. 

The group included Carl-Frederik Bévort (Uno-X Mobility), Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5), Timo Kielich (Visma | Lease a Bike), and Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarché). 

Despite the strength of the breakaway, there were many teams willing to contribute to the chase, leaving the quintet with an advantage of 1:30 heading inside the final 30km, as the rain continued to pour. The final circuit featured the Grasbos climb with gradients reaching 12%.

The Green KM began with 22km to go, with three sprints in quick succession providing the breakaway with the opportunity to earn some bonus seconds. 

De Bondt won the first and third sprints, while Hermans claimed the maximum three seconds at the second sprint.

As the breakaway reached the bell lap with 16km remaining, their advantage over the peloton had dwindled to just under one minute. 

Meanwhile, behind in the peloton Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM) suffered a mechanical, and separately, Pier-André Côté (NSN) and Oliver Naesen (Decathlon CMA CGM) were involved in a crash ahead of the final ascent of the Grasbos climb where the race could be won or lost.