Tim Merlier spreads his wings and wins with authority in the first real round of the Eneco Tour

Imperial. He Belgian Tim Merlier has won as he wanted in the end of the first stage of the Eneco Tourwith start and end in the town of Edeafter a day of 120 kilometers that did not present any difficulty for the runners, beyond the pace set by the peloton.

Although the outcome of this first day was more than set to be decided by a sprint, three brave men have distanced themselves from the group discipline and have had the privilege of showing off the colors and sponsors of their teams for at least a few kilometres. It was about the Dutch Luke Verburg, Rick Ottema and Johan Dorussen.

An adventure that was going nowhere and that ended as soon as the sprinter teams got really serious. The narrowness of the road for several kilometers has not been a problem for the teams Visma, Soudal, Lotto, Alpecin or Unibet-Rockets They began to position themselves thinking about their fastest men.

The stage was decided on the finish line, 250 meters long, which sloped slightly upwards, in which the Belgian’s clear victory was seen. Tim Merlierwhich has had no rival, winning by a margin greater than that of a bicycle.

This Wednesday is the 13th victory of the season for the rider from Soudal Quick-Stepbut that does not allow him to assault the leadership of the general classification, which remains in the hands of Swedish Jakob Söderqvistwinner of the previous prologue.