Perfect Philipsen avoids mass crash to win Renewi Tour stage 2

Jasper Philipsen won stage 2 of the Renewi Tour in Ardooie after triumphing in a mass sprint ahead of Joshua Giddings (Lotto-Intermarché) and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility).

After the weather affected stage 1 with a vicious downpour, wind was a factor on stage 2.

As a consequence, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), amongst others, was caught up in a mass crash, which led to the Italian not competing for the stage win and Philipsen moving into the leader's jersey.

Following a brief neutralised section to open the stage, the official start was given and three riders immediately attacked to establish the early breakaway: Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Niklas Behrens (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), and Michiel Lambrecht (Team Flanders-Baloise). 

The trio carved out a maximum advantage of 1:30 over the main field, where Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG set a steady tempo behind.

With a fresh 29 km/h south-west wind fanning the roads, crosswind tension began to build as the race approached the halfway point. 

A brief split in the peloton with 87 kilometres remaining rapidly closed down the breakaway's advantage, eventually bringing the escapees back into the fold at 84 kilometres to go as the main field regrouped.

As the race entered the local circuits around Ardooie with four laps remaining, fighting for position on the narrow roads triggered a major crash with 67 kilometres to go. 

The high-speed pile-up swept through the middle of the bunch, taking down several prominent sprinters and key riders.

Stage 1 winner and race leader Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was among those brought to the ground, alongside Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost), Rune Herregodts (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Premier Tech). Milan remounted quickly to begin a frantic chase back to the main group, to no avail.

With the peloton stretched out, Dries De Bondt (Team Jayco AlUla) launched multiple aggressive moves to test the bunch approaching the Ardooie intermediate sprint, maintaining a small gap before being brought back with 57 kilometres remaining.

As the race entered the final 45 kilometres, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious) executed a sharp counter-attack off the front of the peloton. 

However, with the sprinter teams wary of further late moves, the chase behind was swift, neutralising the tandem inside the final 44 kilometres and keeping the field intact for the remaining laps.

Philipsen proved to be a cut above the remaining opposition as he won with ease ahead of Giddings and Wærenskjold.