Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE – Individual Time Trial]

June 16, 2023

Baloise Belgium Tour 2023 – Stage 3 ITT – Beveren – Beveren : 15,2 km

With its first edition dating back to 1908, the Baloise Belgium Tour is the second oldest, still-running stage-race in the world! Falling just a couple of weeks before the start of the Tour, the race is often targeted by sprinters and Classics specialists eager to hone their form ahead of the flatter stages in the first few days of the three-week race. The race typically follows a five-day format, with a short time-trial or prologue combined with a couple of rolling stages through the Flemish Ardennes to really decide the general classification. Some editions have been known to hold two stages on the same day, hosting a time-trial in the morning before a short, 100km-long road stage in the afternoon. Overall, the route is very Classics-esque, with several stages in the wind-battered north of the country and a couple in the hilly regions to the south. Despite the race being a firm favourite amongst fans and home riders, there have been several periods throughout its history where there has been no race, most recently between 1991 and 2001. Thankfully, since 2002, the race has become a permanent fixture on the calendar and in 2020 it became part of the new UCI ProSeries – the second-tier on the racing calendar, just below the coveted WorldTour.

Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) won the individual time trial on stage 3 of the Baloise Belgium Tour, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Yves Lampaert (Soudal-QuickStep).

Finishing 15 seconds down in fourth place, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) moved into the overall race lead by a single second over the Norwegian.

The flat 15.2km course in Beveren favoured the powerhouses of the peloton, with long straights and a handful of corners.

Alex Edmondson (Team DSM) was the early leader in the hot seat, setting a mark of 17:22 on a sweltering afternoon in Flanders.

However, he was toppled by U23 world time trial champion Wærenskjold’s time of 17:09. This is the well-rounded 23-year-old’s second win of the year after a bunch sprint victory at the Saudi Tour in February.

“I knew it would be really tough but I just tried to focus on myself and look at the power meter,” Wærenskjold said after the finish. “I tried to take the corners well and it worked out really well. I was close to the leader’s jersey, but I think it’s also good for me that we don’t go into tomorrow’s stage with it. It would be harder.”

Late starter Yves Lampaert was fastest through the intermediate time split but lost time in the second half of the race and could not beat the Norwegian talent.

Off second-to-last, Van der Poel could not defeat him either, despite a smooth and fluid style. However, he has put himself in pole position to win the race ahead of tomorrow’s hilly penultimate stage around Durbuy.

Results :