The Belgian Tim Merlier wins the European Road Championship

The Belgian Tim Merlier has won the European Road Cycling Championship 2024 after winning an insane sprint on the finish line in Hasselt, Belgium.

Tim Merlier wins European Road Championship 2024

The race of almost 223 km on the roads of Limburg soon showed signs that it would be decided among the sprinters. The Belgian team had prepared an aggressive strategy with two sprinters who were given complete freedom to compete against each other.

However, several teams tried to break away from the race early on, and it was Mathieu van der Poel who launched several attacks, along with Pedersen, in an attempt to break away from the peloton. But the teams from France, Italy, and Belgium made sure to keep the group together to give their sprinters a chance.

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In the final straight, a large and disorganized sprint formed in which Jasper Philipsen was in the best position to win, but his fellow Belgian Tim Merlier managed to make a comeback in the final meters and take the victory.

Furthermore, after crossing the finish line, the newly crowned European Champion explained that his chain came off 300 meters before the finish: “It's incredible...My chain came off 300 meters from the finish line and I thought it was all over. But I managed to get back on, found a gap, and got out of the group at the right moment.”

“I asked to be in the race because I believed I could win the championship. I did it and I'm proud of it”.

“This jersey means a lot, after having been national champion of Belgium twice. I said it was my last goal of the year. I worked for this. I had two strong falls in the last two weeks, but I kept believing.”