Results Baloise Belgium Tour Stage 2 - Tim Merlier bounces back to win second stage ahead of Kooij and Philipsen

Tim Merlier bounced back from opening stage disappointment to take a dominant sprint win on Thursday's second stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour. Opening his sprint early, the Belgian demonstrated that he will be the rider to beat among the fast men in next month's Tour de France.

On stage two, riders set off from Merelbeke-Melle for a 198 kilometer journey North to the coast - finishing in Knokke-Heist. With the elevation profile almost completely flat, it was set to be another day for the fast riders.

Biniam Girmay enjoyed the bragging rights on Wednesday's opening stage. The Eritrean upset the odds to edge Tim Merlier in the sprint to the line. There was disappointment for Jasper Philipsen as he didn't contest the bunch sprint, while Max Kanter took a third place.

As the day's early breakaway established itself, the bunch seemed content to let six riders go ahead. Michiel Hillen, Jonah Killy, Stijn Appel, Victor Broex, Victor Hannes and Viktor Vandenberghe all seemed to work together nicely.

With 125 kilometers to go and just over 70 kilometers on the books, their gap had grown out to 1:50. Back in the bunch, the sprint teams were firmly in control as they stabilised the gap and slowly began to reel them in.

Turning the screw between the 40 and 20 kilometers to go markers, the breakaway split as Hillen and Vanderberghe dropped as the gap went down to just 0:42 with 20 to go.

As the riders crossed the finish line for the third time and onto a final lap, all roads headed towards another sprint to the line as sprint trains began forming at the front. The breakaway were soon swallowed up by the increased pace at just over nine kilometers to go.

Multiple teams jostled for position in a hectic finale as Jasper Stuyven did his best to position Tim Merlier before the final straight. Merlier launched the sprint first after a leadout from Bert van Lerberghe. Merlier took the win ahead of Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen.