Despite solid Van der Poel and serious fight by Milan, Segaert dominates Renewi Tour with double victory

Alec Segaert has claimed the time trial in the Renewi Tour. This win also makes the Lotto-Dstny rider the new leader of the race. Segaert was significantly faster than Magnus Sheffield over the fifteen-kilometer course. Stefan Bissegger finished in third place.

Before the time trial, we witnessed a surprising withdrawal, which was announced just before the start of the race against the clock. Filippo Ganna pulled out of the race, feeling very fatigued after several races this summer. This meant the Italian could not show off his specialty. He wasn’t the first to withdraw. Olav Kooij, John Degenkolb and yesterday’s crash victim Dylan Groenewegen were also out, meaning many big names quickly disappeared from the race.

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Bissegger starts early and sets bar nice and high

The rolling course, without any real climbs, was designed with the true powerhouses in mind. Big gears, powerful thighs, just hammering away. Stefan Bissegger falls into that category, and he was the first to set a very fast time: 17 minutes and 9 seconds. His performance landed the Swiss rider (EF Education-EasyPost) in the hot seat. Several riders posted decent times, like Florian Vermeersch. The first to really come close, however, was a surprising contender.

At the intermediate checkpoint, Tobias Foss was on track to match the Swiss rider’s time. Ultimately, at the finish in Tessenderlo, he was just one second behind Bissegger. A great time trial for the Norwegian, who hadn’t shown this form in a while. At 2:30 PM, it was time for Mathieu van der Poel to make his move. However, during his time trial, attention first shifted to Alec Segaert. He was a full eleven seconds faster than Bissegger.

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Van der Poel in the subtop, along with Van Dijke, Schachmann and Van Wilder

We didn’t see much footage of Van der Poel, as Segaert stole the show. Nevertheless, the Dutchman performed well, finishing 36 seconds behind in the higher ranks of the standings. Just ahead of him were Sjoerd Bax and Mick van Dijke, who also posted solid times. Yves Lampaert was somewhat disappointing with a time of 17:37. At this point, Segaert was the only rider to clock in under seventeen minutes. But the next threat was on its way: Magnus Sheffield. The American riding for INEOS rode the second-fastest time, finishing seven seconds behind the Belgian.

And so the list of names who could challenge the young Belgian was starting to dwindle. Who could beat him? Maybe Tim Wellens, the man who had beaten Segaert in the national time trial. But no, the wearer of the national champion's jersey was 16 seconds slower. Some top riders recorded slower times, such as Matej Mohoric, who lost 48 seconds. Christophe Laporte posted a strong time, finishing 22 seconds behind.

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Sprinters take it easy or go down fighting

In the final phase of the race, we mostly saw sprinters in action. How did Jasper Philipsen and Jonathan Milan perform? The latter was still in the race to keep his leader's jersey, which would go to Segaert if the gap exceeded ten seconds. Arnaud De Lie took it easy, losing more than three minutes. Milan and Philipsen did their best, and the Italian giant, in particular, came close at first.

However, at the second intermediate checkpoint, he also started losing time, while Philipsen was already further behind. And so, Segaert and Lotto-Dstny secured a double victory: the stage win and the leader's jersey in the Renewi Tour.

Stage 2 Renewi Tour 2024 results

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