Baloise Belgium Tour: Rit 2
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The second stage in the Baloise Belgium Tour was grist to the windmill of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix). In Knokke-Heist, our compatriot timed best in a sprint that ran up. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) retains the leader’s jersey.
Watch a summary of the second stage here
Jasper Philipsen rules in Knokke-Heist
The last time a sprinter stage in Knokke-Heist was on the program in the Baloise Belgium Tour, there was no sprint. The Dutchman Jan-Willem van Schip was then the only remaining escapee who narrowly outsmarted the peloton.
Today it was bingo for the sprinters. It took a while before a breakaway group could break away from the peloton, but in the end six riders succeeded. Three Belgians and three Dutchmen.
After a classic course, with 15 kilometers to go, the escapees were overtaken by the peloton that had clearly set its sights on a bunch sprint.
In the last half kilometer before the finish, the riders had to do a lot of cornering. This caused a chaotic run-up, with Jakobsen and De Lie, among others, losing their teammate’s wheel.
In the end it was Jasper Philipsen who took the sprint with force majeure. With a blistering slash he raced past Pedersen and van Poppel. The Dutchman eventually finished second. Leader Pedersen finishes in third place.
Watch the denouement of this stage here
Jasper Philipsen: “This victory gives courage with a view to the Tour”
“It was a very hectic sprint. Many riders still had a lot of energy, so it was not easy to be in a good position. This victory gives me courage with a view to the Tour de France. I’m in pretty good shape. ”
“Whether corona is being talked about again? (after infections in the Tour of Switzerland, ed.) The team is talking about it. It would be a great pity if you now have to miss important rides because of corona. to take into account.”
Mads Pedersen: “Tomorrow’s time trial is a good preparation for the Tour”
“It’s nice to keep the leader’s jersey, although I might have preferred to ride in my own time trial suit. Tomorrow’s time trial is quite technical and also a good preparation for the Tour. I’m looking forward to it.”
After the finish, Pedersen went to talk to the jury.
“We try to control the race while there are still riders on the bike paths. 90% of the peloton follow the rules, but some clearly don’t. The jury always says they will hand out penalties and fines, but that never actually happens. There So I confronted the jury with it.”
Jasper Philipsen is the fastest in Knokke and wins the 2nd stage in the Belgium Baloise Tour
Hermans and Sénéchal collect a few seconds in the Golden Kilometer
Don’t throw away the bottle! Pedersen solves that creatively
