Baloise Belgium Tour 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

June 13, 2019

Baloise Belgium Tour 2019 – Stage 2 – Knokke-Heist – Zottegem : 180,8 km

The 2019 Tour of Belgium, known as the 2019 Baloise Belgium Tour for sponsorship purposes, will be the 9th edition of the Tour of Belgium cycling stage race. It is scheduled to take place from 12 to 16 June 2019 in Belgium, as part of the 2019 UCI Europe Tour; it was categorised as a 2.HC race.

Young Belgian phenom Remco Evenepoel continued a string of impressive results, soloing in to victory and the race lead on stage 2 of the Baloise Belgium Tour. The Deceuninck-Quickstep rider escaped with Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) in the closing stages, but Campenaerts crashed in a narrow bend, leaving Evenepoel to tackle the last 9km alone.

For the double junior world champion, holding off the peloton was no problem, and 42 seconds after Evenepoel celebrated his stage win, his teammate Fabio Jakobsen led the peloton across the line ahead of Tim Merlier (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal).

Evenepoel now leads Jakobsen in the GC by 51 seconds with Merlier third on the same time.

“It’s my first pro win and it really means a lot to me. When I crossed the finish line, I saw my parents and that was just so beautiful. For me it’s very important that they were here and I could share this moment with them. It’s incredible when you see the names here at the start, I never thought I could actually win my first race here, despite bringing a good form into the race”, Evenepoel said.

On a 180km-long stage that featured some of the cobbled climbs of the Classics, including the Muur-Kapelmuur, Evenepoel made a leading split on the first of two closing circuits with around 20 riders.

Evenepoel attacked with Campenaerts, opening a 20-second lead with 10 kilometers to go, and after Campenaerts crashed, the 19-year-old continued to build on his advantage.

“The harder the race was, the better I felt, so I tried to save my legs as much as possible during the stage, especially as I knew I could do something in the finale. That’s what I did on the penultimate climb and I felt it was the perfect moment, as behind me they had some doubts and were looking at each other. Having done a recon last week, I knew the parcours and I pushed hard going into the corners as the kilometers ticked down.”

Now with a 51 second lead in the general classification and a 9.2km individual time trial around Grimbergen ahead, Evenepoel is not yet focusing on winning the overall.

“The race is far from being over and I really don’t think about the GC. I just want to enjoy this moment together with the team. Thirteen is supposed to mean bad luck, but surely, not for me. I love this number, it’s my lucky number and winning on June 13 with bib number 13 on my back and on home turf makes it even more special”, he said.

Results :
1 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:26:04
2 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:42
3 Tim Merlier (Bel) Corendon-Circus
4 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
5 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Belgium
7 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
8 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
9 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
10 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
11 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
12 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
13 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
14 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Cibel
15 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
16 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot-Charles
18 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
19 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
20 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
21 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles
22 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
23 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkéa Samsic
24 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
25 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
27 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
28 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
29 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
30 Arne Marit (Bel) Belgium 0:01:46
31 Justin Jules (Fra) Wallonie Bruxelles
32 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Corendon-Circus
33 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
34 Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles
35 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:42
36 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:46
37 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
38 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
39 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
40 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Cedric Raymackers (Bel) Cibel
42 David van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
43 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
44 Lars van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions
45 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
46 Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
47 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
48 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
49 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
50 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
51 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
52 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
53 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
54 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
55 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
56 Jerome Baugnies (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
57 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
60 Daan Soete (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
61 Corne van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:01:54
62 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Belgium 0:01:58
63 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
64 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
65 Julien Van Den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
66 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
67 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Belgium 0:02:02
68 Michiel Dieleman (Bel) Cibel 0:02:10
69 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Belgium 0:02:56
70 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:03:05
71 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:03:57
72 Jeroen Eyskens (Bel) Cibel 0:03:58
73 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:04:00
74 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:40
75 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
76 Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
77 Nuno Matos (Por) Burgos-BH
78 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:05:29
79 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
80 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel 0:07:00
81 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
83 Floris Gerts (Ned) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:10:38
84 Dennis Coenen (Bel) Cibel
85 David Boucher (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
86 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
87 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
88 Kenny Molly (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
89 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
90 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Cycling Academy
91 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
92 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
93 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:10:41
94 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
95 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:11:36
96 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:12:02
97 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:14:49
98 Julien Morice (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
99 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
100 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
101 Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH
102 Jens Reynders (Bel) Belgium
103 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
104 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
105 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Belgium
106 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
107 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
108 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
109 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
110 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal
111 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
112 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
113 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
114 Kim Magnusson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
115 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
116 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
117 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
118 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
119 Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
120 Clément Russo (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
121 Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic
122 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
123 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles
124 Glenn Debruyne (Bel) Cibel
125 Mathijs Paasschens (Ned) Wallonie Bruxelles
126 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
127 Roy Jans (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:15:53
128 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:16:57
129 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
130 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
131 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
132 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
133 Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
134 Jonas Aaen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
135 Alvaro Robredo Crespo (Spa) Burgos-BH
136 Yannick Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
137 Jelle Mannaerts (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
138 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
139 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
140 Thomas Joseph (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
141 Sasha Weemaes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
142 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
143 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Victor Langellotti (Mon) Burgos-BH
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Nicolai Philip Brochner Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
DNF Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles
DNF Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
DNF Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNF Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
DNS Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 8:41:03
2 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:51
3 Tim Merlier (Bel) Corendon-Circus
4 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Belgium 0:00:57
5 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:59
6 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:00
7 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
9 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:01:01
10 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
11 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
13 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
14 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
15 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
16 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
17 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles
19 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkéa Samsic
20 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
21 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
22 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot-Charles
23 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
24 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
25 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
26 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
27 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Cibel
28 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
29 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
30 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
31 Arne Marit (Bel) Belgium 0:02:05
32 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Corendon-Circus
33 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
34 Justin Jules (Fra) Wallonie Bruxelles
35 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
36 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
37 Daan Soete (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
38 Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles
39 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
40 Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
41 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
42 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
43 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
44 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
45 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions
46 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
47 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
48 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
49 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
50 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
51 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
52 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
53 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
54 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
55 Lars van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions
56 David van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
57 Cedric Raymackers (Bel) Cibel
58 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
59 Jerome Baugnies (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
60 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
61 Corne van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:02:13
62 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Belgium 0:02:17
63 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
64 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
65 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
66 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Belgium 0:02:21
67 Michiel Dieleman (Bel) Cibel 0:02:29
68 Julien Van Den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:02:56
69 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Belgium 0:03:15
70 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions 0:03:24
71 Jeroen Eyskens (Bel) Cibel 0:04:17
72 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:04:19
73 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:59
74 Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
75 Nuno Matos (Por) Burgos-BH
76 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
77 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:05:29
78 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:05:48
79 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:07:19
80 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel
81 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:08:18
83 Floris Gerts (Ned) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:10:57
84 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
85 Dennis Coenen (Bel) Cibel
86 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
87 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
88 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Cycling Academy
89 Kenny Molly (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
90 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
91 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
92 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:11:00
93 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
94 David Boucher (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:11:36
95 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:12:21
96 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:12:34
97 Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:14:47
98 Glenn Debruyne (Bel) Cibel 0:15:02
99 Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:15:08
100 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
101 Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic
102 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal
103 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
104 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
105 Kim Magnusson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
106 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
107 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Belgium
108 Clément Russo (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
109 Jens Reynders (Bel) Belgium
110 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
111 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
112 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
113 Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
114 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
115 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
116 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
117 Mathijs Paasschens (Ned) Wallonie Bruxelles
118 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
119 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
120 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
121 Julien Morice (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:15:47
122 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
123 Roy Jans (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:16:12
124 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:21
125 Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:17:11
126 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:16
127 Jelle Mannaerts (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
128 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
129 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
130 Thomas Joseph (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
131 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
132 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
133 Sasha Weemaes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
134 Yannick Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
135 Jonas Aaen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
136 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:17:32
137 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:18:29
138 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:18:44
139 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
140 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:34
141 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:20:52
142 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
143 Alvaro Robredo Crespo (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:27:29