Nine yellow cards handed out during Baloise Belgium Tour opener

The opening stage of the 95th edition saw Biniam Girmay (NSN) sprint to his second victory of the season ahead of Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Max Kanter (XDS Astana). The Eritrean’s victory was his first since February, and marks a positive boost with the Tour de France on the horizon. 

Girmay’s teammate Guillaume Boivin (NSN) and Sports Director Sam Bewley were both handed yellow cards for a sticky bottle during the stage, two of nine yellow cards in total dished out.

Four riders were yellow carded for an unauthorised use of footpaths or cycle paths that were not part of the official route including Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise), John Degenkolb and Nils Eekhoff (Picnic PostNL) and Mathias Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek). Eekhoff also received a fine and a 15-point penalty in the UCI rankings. 

Meanwhile, there were also three riders who were unable to be identified from Alpecin-Premier Tech, NSN and Uno-X Mobility, with the teams receiving a fine. 

Sports Directors Kim Andersen (Lidl-Trek), Hans De Clercq (Flanders-Baloise) and Kevin Van Melsen (Aarco) were awarded the final yellow cards of a hectic opening stage for violating the supporting vehicle rules during the stage. 

The UCI introduced the yellow card system in 2024 to address dangerous and unsporting behaviour in the peloton, with the ambition to improve safety and set clearer boundaries of what is deemed acceptable during a race.

Thursday's second stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour sees the peloton travel 197.6km from Merelbeke-Melle to Knokke-Heist with an expected sprint finish on the cards. Knokke-Heist hosted the finish of the opening stage in the 2025 edition, won by Merlier.