Tim Merlier has won his home match again with Nokere Koerse. Florian Vermeersch and Sep Vanmarcke tried to disrupt things in the blood-curdling final, but were outflanked on the last cobblestone section by Tim Merlier and co. The Belgian champion beat Edward Theuns and Milan Menten.
Lotto-Dstny is not rewarded, Bert Van Lerberghe wins the race ahead of Tim Merlier
At about 35 kilometers from the finish, Sep Vanmarcke found the key to a particularly closed course.
His power surge was the start of a captivating and long finale chock-full of attacks.
The common thread: Vanmarcke shot about 4 arrows, Lotto-Dstny was omnipresent with Jasper De Buyst, among others, and the sprinter teams were increasingly without servants.
In the last 10 kilometers the youngsters of Groupama-FDJ also knocked ostentatiously on the door.
After an intermezzo by Samuel Watson, Laurence Pithie slipped along with Vanmarcke and an unchained Florian Vermeersch.
The trio – Lindsay De Vylder dropped out due to a flat tire – held out his hand to victory, but in all the hectic pace and between the crashes, the peloton still wound up to their bottoms just before Nokereberg.
MVP Bert Van Lerberghe crowned his monstrous course with a last line, Tim Merlier won his home game with panache.
“What Bert Van Lerberghe did was really classy”
Tim Merlier fired like a rocket, but was clearly hungry for the finish. “The last two laps they raced full. It was difficult to find control, but we counted on a very strong Van Lerberghe who kept everything straight for us”, he analysed.
“And the lead-out was also good. The work Bert did was really classy. A dream to be in his wheel.”
“After the fall in the peloton, I immediately informed Bert and told him that he shouldn’t hesitate anymore. There were still escapees in front, but he solved that well. After that I was just able to ride my sprint.”
What did Merlier think of that sprint? “I just saw the values… Not as good as last year, but still enough.”
“It is apparently the first time that the Belgian Champion Nokere Koerse wins, I am proud of that.”
“I am very satisfied for myself and the team that I can perform for what they brought me. It is a success at the moment.”
Milan Menten: “Perfect race from Lotto, but must be satisfied with 3rd place”
- Edward Theuns (2nd): “I knew it would be hard to beat Tim. This was the highest possible.”
“I felt good and I was able to drive super economically. I came into the final fresh and I was well positioned, but I was perhaps a bit too big. Although I am glad that I came more or less close.”
“In these races I get opportunities and I deliberately aimed at these races. It’s nice if you finish on the podium, but winning would be a step higher. I hope it will happen one day.”
- Milan Menten (3rd): “I started the season well, which gives confidence to myself and the team. Today we drove the perfect race again and we made the race hard. The really fast guys were at their limit.”
“The last kilometer I tried to stop for Vermeersch, but we were passed at speed. I think I have to be satisfied with third place, because the other two were just faster.”
Tim Merlier wins Nokere Koerse after an exciting final kilometer
Campenaerts hits the ground hard again
Florian Vermeersch attacks and gets some people with him
Kaden Groves does not play for the victory, after a fall in the slot
