Benelux Tour 2021 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

August 30, 2021

Benelux Tour 2021 – Stage 1 – Surhuisterveen – Dokkum : 169,6 km

The 2021 edition of the Benelux Tour will return to its traditional seven-day format, after adopting a shortened, five-day format last year. Whilst under the guise of a new name, the exciting racing will no doubt remain across the Benelux region. This year’s race will also fall just weeks before the rescheduled Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships in Flanders, allowing it to serve as an ideal warm up for those riders targeting the fabled cobbled trophy and a set of rainbow bands. Without a sponsor for this year, the race formerly known as the BinckBank Tour has adopted the title of the Benelux Tour, referring to the regions that the race will be travelling through. The Benelux Union is a politico-economic union between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and whilst this year’s international race only comes within touching distance of Luxembourg, the seven-day stage race will take place across both the Netherlands and Belgium. With stages across the windswept northern coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands, hilly stages in the Flemish Ardennes and cobbled stages in Belgium’s central region, the Benelux Tour truly is a race for the Classics specialists. Now entering its 17th edition, the Benelux Tour traditionally includes the hills, making it one of the most exciting stage races on the WorldTour calendar.

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) triumphed on the opening stage of the Benelux Tour, sprinting to victory from a group of 30 after crosswinds had split the field into pieces.

The Belgian sprinter held off Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) in the dash for the line in Dokkum, with Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) taking the final podium spot.

The opening stage of the week-long race saw winds in the northern Netherlands split the race into echelons, with significant time gaps appearing on the first day of racing.

Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) had made the front echelon but broke his front wheel with 30km to go and went on to finish almost a minute in arrears in a chasing pack that also contained Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën).

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) missed the first echelon and then crashed out of the second, eventually finishing nearly two and a half minutes down.

The 169.6km opening stage was pan flat but took riders up for a winding route near the North Sea coast, where the exposed roads quickly saw the peloton split into five groups in the final 50km.

Bahrain Victorious put five of their riders in the 40-man front group, while Evenepoel was present and correct alongside his teammate, the Tour of Flanders champion Kasper Asgreen.

The big names to miss out were Sagan, Dumoulin, Van Avermaet, Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers), and Ivan Cortina (Movistar), who were all in a 20-rider chase group. Geraint Thomas was caught in the third echelon, but those groups did come together into one large chasing pack nearer the finish.

Evenepoel broke his spokes with 29km to go and took an age to get a new wheel from neutral service. The frustrated Belgian had to watch the second echelon zip past, but he did manage to tag onto the third, before the groups came back together.

At the finish, he had shipped 57 seconds to the front group, which contained many of the pre-race favourites. Sagan, up the road from Evenepoel at the time, then crashed and vented his own anger but was unable to back even into the swelled chase group, and he trundled home at 2:25.

The stage concluded with two laps of a 12km finishing circuit, with the so-called ‘golden kilometre’ of three bonus sprints coming towards the end of the first lap. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) all claimed four seconds, before Tiesj Benoot (Team DSM), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), and Asgreen came through for the last sprint and triggered a brief breakaway attempt.

The front group then stayed together until the finish, losing only four riders to the windy section on the second lap, and with Pöstlberger then only rider to try and solo clear in the finale. The Austrian was caught with 500 metres to go and the sprint was launched soon after.

Hodeg was the first to hit out but Merlier came from behind and surged clear. Bauhaus, who had to ease off the pedals when Hodeg burst through, came back strongly but Merlier had enough to hold on for his eighth win of the season.

“It was extremely hectic,” said Merlier. “I don’t know how, but it just happened. I had to do a sprint for that echelon. From then on I knew that I had to play along and not let myself be surprised on the crucial points.

“I felt good in the final, but it was difficult. There was also an attack, but Gianni [Vermeersch] was the ideal man for that. He could respond to anyone. In the end everything worked out and it is a great victory for the team.”

Results :
1 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 3:32:20
2 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
3 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
5 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
6 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
7 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Qhubeka Assos
8 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
9 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
10 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
11 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
13 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
14 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
15 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
16 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM
17 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
18 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
20 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
21 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team DSM
22 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
23 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo
24 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
25 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team BikeExchange
26 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
27 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
28 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
29 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
30 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
31 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
32 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
34 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:57
35 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
37 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
38 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
39 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
40 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
42 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
43 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
44 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
45 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
46 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
47 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
48 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
49 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
50 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
51 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
52 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
53 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
54 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
55 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
56 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
57 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
58 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
59 Anthony Jullien (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
60 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
61 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
63 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
64 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
65 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
66 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma
67 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
68 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
69 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
70 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
71 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
72 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
73 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-up Nation
74 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
75 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange
76 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
77 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
78 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
79 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
80 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
81 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
82 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
83 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
84 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
85 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
86 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
87 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
88 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
89 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
90 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
91 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
92 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM
93 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
94 Mitch Docker (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
95 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
97 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
98 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
99 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:51
101 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
102 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
103 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
104 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
105 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
106 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis 0:02:19
107 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
108 Daniel Arroyave Cañas (Col) EF Education-Nippo 0:02:26
109 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:08
111 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:24
112 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:39
113 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:05:47
114 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
115 Rune Herregodts (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
116 Charlie Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
117 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
118 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
119 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
120 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
121 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
122 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
123 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
124 Callum Scotson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
125 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
126 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
127 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
128 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
129 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
130 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
131 Michael Gogl (Aut) Team Qhubeka Assos
132 Finn Fisher Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
133 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
134 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
135 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
136 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
137 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
138 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
139 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
140 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
141 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
142 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ
143 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
144 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:13:50
145 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Team Qhubeka Assos
146 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
147 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM
148 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
149 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
150 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
DNF Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
DNS Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana-Premier Tech

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 3:32:10
2 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:04
3 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:06
4 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
6 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team DSM 0:00:07
7 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:08
9 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
11 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
12 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
13 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Qhubeka Assos
14 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
15 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
16 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
17 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
18 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
20 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM
21 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
22 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
24 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
25 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo
26 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
27 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team BikeExchange
28 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
29 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
30 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
31 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
32 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
34 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:07
35 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
37 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
38 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
39 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
40 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
42 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
43 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
44 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
45 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
46 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
47 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
48 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
49 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
50 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
51 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
52 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
53 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
54 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
55 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
56 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
57 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
58 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
59 Anthony Jullien (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
60 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
61 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
63 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
64 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
65 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
66 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma
67 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
68 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
69 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
70 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
71 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
72 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
73 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-up Nation
74 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
75 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange
76 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
77 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
78 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
79 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
80 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
81 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
82 Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
83 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
84 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
85 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
86 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
87 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
88 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
89 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
90 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
91 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
92 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM
93 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
94 Mitch Docker (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
95 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
97 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
98 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
99 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:02:01
101 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
102 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
103 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
104 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
105 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
106 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis 0:02:29
107 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
108 Daniel Arroyave Cañas (Col) EF Education-Nippo 0:02:36
109 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:18
111 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:34
112 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:49
113 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:05:57
114 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
115 Rune Herregodts (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
116 Charlie Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
117 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
118 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
119 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
120 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
121 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
122 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
123 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
124 Callum Scotson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
125 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
126 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
127 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
128 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
129 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
130 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
131 Michael Gogl (Aut) Team Qhubeka Assos
132 Finn Fisher Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
133 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
134 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
135 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
136 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
137 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
138 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
139 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
140 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
141 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
142 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ
143 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
144 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:14:00
145 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Team Qhubeka Assos
146 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
147 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM
148 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
149 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
150 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal