Results Baloise Belgium Tour 2026 Stage 5 - Jasper Philipsen wins final stage and overall after dramatic finale

Jasper Philipsen won the final stage of the 2026 Baloise Belgium Tour and snatched overall victory after a tense, attack-heavy finale in Hoeilaart.

The Alpecin - Premier Tech rider started the day just two seconds behind Alex Aranburu and used the final stage to overturn the race in the closing kilometres. Aranburu had survived the Golden Kilometer by the smallest of margins, but Philipsen still had one last card to play at the finish and completed the stage and GC double.

The 183.7 kilometre stage from Gingelom to Hoeilaart had always looked capable of changing the race. Bonus seconds were available in the Golden Kilometer and again on the line, while the final local laps included the Smeysberg, Bergstraat and Nieuwland before a technical finish in the centre of Hoeilaart.

A seven-man break went clear early through Kay De Bruyckere, Jocelyn Baguelin, Roan Konings, Zeno Moonen, Alexys Brunel, Stijn Appel and Victor Hannes. Hannes strengthened his grip on the combativity classification by taking the first intermediate sprint, before the bunch brought the move back as the race reached its decisive local laps.

The general classification fight erupted once the early break was caught on the Coppensstraat. NSN Cycling Team lifted the pace for Biniam Girmay and Lewis Askey, while Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team moved up for Quinten Hermans before the second passage of the Smeysberg.

The Golden Kilometer then threw the race wide open. Jenno Berckmoes took three seconds in the second sprint, while Philipsen briefly moved into the virtual race lead. Aranburu answered in the third sprint, beating Lukas Kubis to take three seconds of his own and move back ahead by a single second.

That did not settle the stage. Jonas Abrahamsen and Romele pushed clear after the bonus sprints, before the chasing group splintered behind them. Florian Vermeersch, who had earlier needed help to return after a puncture, also tried to attack, but Cofidis quickly controlled the move for Aranburu.

With 11 kilometres remaining, the race came back together, but the attacks kept coming. Dylan van Baarle, Milan Lanhove and Kerckhaert opened a small gap before Dylan Teuns led the chase for Cofidis. Decathlon CMA CGM Team then took up the work for Olav Kooij, keeping the stage on course for a reduced sprint.

On the final climb of Nieuwland, Jasper Stuyven attacked and Aime De Gendt followed, but Stan Dewulf worked strongly to bring the race back for Kooij. Abrahamsen made one final attempt inside the last kilometres, using his strength as a rouleur to open a gap, but the peloton closed him down before the line.

Philipsen then delivered the decisive sprint. After missing out in the earlier sprint stages, he chose the biggest possible moment to take his first win of the week, with the stage victory also enough to seal the final general classification.

The final stage had already been marked by tension before the decisive GC fight began. A heavy crash in the peloton forced seven riders to abandon, including Guillaume Boivin and Krists Neilands of NSN Cycling Team, Emils Liepins of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Michiel Hillen, Timothy Dupont, Roy Hoogendoorn and Gilles Dockx.

Tibor del Grosso and Vermeersch both suffered punctures at awkward moments, while Hector Alvarez came under pressure in the young rider classification before finding a second wind in the finale.

After five stages split between sprinters, punchers and bonus-second battles, Philipsen turned the final day into the decisive one. Aranburu had defended the jersey deep into the Hoeilaart finale, but Philipsen left with the stage win and the overall title.