Results Baloise Belgium Tour 2026 Stage 1 | Biniam Girmay denies Tim Merlier in photo finish after Rune Herregodts scare

Biniam Girmay won the opening stage of the 2026 Baloise Belgium Tour after edging Tim Merlier in a photo finish in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, but only after Rune Herregodts came agonisingly close to spoiling the sprinters’ day.

The NSN Cycling Team fast man survived a chaotic Hageland opener and then held off Merlier at the line after a frantic final kilometre. Herregodts had still been clear inside the final kilometre, forcing the sprint teams into a desperate chase before the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider was caught with only around 400 metres remaining.

Mike Teunissen launched the sprint after XDS Astana Team had helped drive the final chase, setting up a reduced and messy dash to the line rather than the clean sprint finish many had expected. Girmay and Merlier crossed almost together, with the Eritrean eventually confirmed as the stage winner and first race leader.

The 188.3 kilometre opener had been billed as a major early test for the sprinters, with Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Olav Kooij, Girmay, Milan Fretin and Juan Sebastian Molano all on the startlist. Four local laps, repeated cobbled climbs and a slightly rising finish made the day far more awkward than a standard bunch sprint.

Herregodts gave the stage its late drama after attacking from a nervous peloton that had already been thinned and stretched several times on the local circuit. Brent Van Moer and Huub Artz had tried to move clear before Jasper Stuyven shut the move down, but Herregodts soon opened a solo gap with a powerful late attack.

The Belgian still had 17 seconds with nine kilometres to race and 13 seconds with six kilometres remaining, despite Soudal - Quick-Step, Alpecin - Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM Team chasing behind. Even inside the final kilometre, Merlier and Philipsen’s teams were not the only ones carrying the chase, with XDS Astana Team, Decathlon and Unibet Rockets among those helping drag the move back.

Herregodts was finally caught just before the sprint opened. Teunissen was the first to launch, but the finish came down to Girmay and Merlier, with the photo finish falling in favour of the NSN Cycling Team leader.

The stage had been restless long before the finale. An early move featuring Roy Hoogendoorn helped shape the opening phase, before the race ignited after 73 kilometres when the peloton split under pressure. Florian Vermeersch, Jonas Abrahamsen, Dylan van Baarle and Tibor del Grosso were among the names prominent near the front as the sprinters were forced through their first major test.

A later breakaway phase brought bonus seconds into play, with Bart Kortleve taking the first and third sprints in the Golden Kilometre and Robbe Mellaerts collecting the second. With no individual time trial in this year’s race, those seconds could still carry weight later in the week.

Molano abandoned after losing contact, ending UAE Team Emirates - XRG’s sprint option on the opening day, while Soren Kragh Andersen was also among the riders to struggle as the pace repeatedly lifted. Girmay ultimately gave the sprinters the victory, but the route ensured they had to fight for it from far further out than expected.