Belgium on top in Münsterland Giro! Superior Philipsen beats compatriots Meeus and Fretin in sprint

Jasper Philipsen has won the Münsterland Giro. The rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck was the best in the sprint after a race that did not get going in the uphill phase. It was another big Belgian party with Jordi Meeus and Milan Fretin on the podium.

A classic in the making? Who knows? The Münsterland Giro is becoming more popular by the year, and that was also evident this year in the list of participants. The race could be divided into three phases: a fairly easy start, an uphill middle phase, and then another flat final. A sprint seemed obvious, but a breakaway was far from unlikely in the finish city of Münster.

Visma | Lease a Bike in early breakaway, race started slowly

The day's breakaway had one prominent name in Tosh Van De Sande (Visma | Lease a Bike). He was joined by Jannik Steimle, Adrie Maire, Arno Claeys, Jarno Grixa, and Luca Dresler, all riding for teams at the continental or continental level. They were given a lead of about four minutes maximum and spread the broadcast time and the secondary classification for the hills along the way. Sprint teams were spotted riding at the head of the chasing group.

The finale opened slowly, but the pace was high. At 24 kilometers from the end, the Lotto Dstny train accelerated. This was the end of the breakaway, which slowly saw the gap get reduced. The race thus seemed to be heading for a bunch sprint due to the flat final phase. But that was not to everyone's liking. So Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) attacked on one of the last climbs. It paid off as the peloton separated into two groups.

Courageous attackers immediately caught red-handed

Although the second group quickly rejoined, the momentum was gone; it was a race! This is how Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) attacked. Also, dsm-firmenich PostNL joined the attack, as their sprinter Fabio Jakobsen was in trouble several times during the day. It led to a group creating a gap for a while. However, the sprinters' teams were relentless and caught the courageous attackers with fifteen kilometers to go.

Shortly after that, the peloton crossed the finish line for the first time, after which three short local laps remained to be completed. For Israel-Premier Tech, that was the signal to take control. The team had a home favorite in Pascal Ackermann; however, with the speedy Brit Ethan Vernon, they had another contender.

Israel-Premier Tech maintained the initiative until about nine kilometers from the finish. Then, Intermarché-Wanty, among others, forced the team out. So Mike Teunissen positioned himself strongly at the front in service of Biniam Girmay. Because of all the pushing, the front of the peloton was shaken up again in the final kilometers.

Alpecin-Deceuninck timed strongly and took the lead with a small train for Philipsen, which had two kilometers to go. Fabio Van den Bossche, however, had to let go early on, causing the Belgian team's plan to fall through. This allowed Lidl-Trek and Intermarché to take over. Led by the Supermarket formation, the peloton began the final furious kilometer. Danny van Poppel was first to sprint ahead of Jordi Meeus, but the Belgian was eventually surpassed by Philipsen, who emerged like a jack-in-the-box and won by several bike lengths.

Münsterland Giro 2024 Results.

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