Wednesday saw the Grand Départ of the first stage of the 2024 Renewi Tour in Riemst finishing in Bilzen. An early escape by five riders was not enough to avoid the mass sprint in which Jonathan Milan proved to be the strongest, ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Axel Zingle. Milan is also the first leader.
After all teams and riders were introduced for the first time on Tuesday evening in Riemst, the very first starting shot of this 2024 Renewi Tour sounded on Wednesday morning under a radiant sun. The opening stage presented the peloton with 163.6 kilometres and over 1,600 vertical metres taking a big loop towards Bilzen, which had to be ridden three times. The sloping roads through the provinces of Limburg and Liège featuring the Slingerberg, Côte de Hallembaye and Côte Sur les Coteaux were the obstacles on each local lap.
Control for the sprinters
A five-man team claimed the first early breakaway, it included two duos: Ceriel Desal and Loïc Vliegen of Bingoal WB, Axel Huens and Jordy Bouts of TDT – Unibet Cycling Team, and finally Lars Craps of Team Flanders-Baloise. The five escapees gathered a maximum lead of just under two minutes ahead of the sprinters’ teams who kept everything under control.
Along the way, Bouts totted up the most points in the intermediate sprints of the Super8 Combativity classification to claim his spot on the podium and the accompanying leader’s jersey. The Green Kilometre was at 32 kilometres from the line, which consisted of three intermediate sprints good for three, two and one bonus seconds to be picked up. At that point, the peloton was still a minute behind the leaders’ group allowing them to sprint for those seconds. Huens came out on top there, with a total of six bonus seconds.
Royal mass sprint in Bilzen
The five were caught with seventeen kilometres to go, leaving us heading for a first royal mass sprint in this opening stage. One of the favourites, Jasper Philipsen, broke down with ten kilometres to go and was forced to change bikes. Helped by his teammates, he re-joined the peloton and was able to take his place at the front. In the slightly uphill final straight, he followed the lead of Jonathan Milan. It briefly looked like he might come alongside, but the Italian sprinting machine did not stop and raced to the stage win. Philipsen stranded in second place, ahead of Axel Zingle.
Jonathan Milan was awarded the very first medal on the podium, made from recycled water bottles, and also got to put on the first leader’s jersey of this Renewi Tour. He also leads the Teamleader points classification. Bouts happily accepted the Super8 Combativity leader’s jersey. Lastly, Belgian Champion Arnaud De Lie is the leader in the Ethias Youth classification.
