Scheldeprijs: Tim Merlier wins with powerful sprint ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen
Cycling
Scheldeprijs every year hosts tons of the best sprinters in the world and that was no exception. An elite field disputed a furious sprint where Tim Merlier took the victory for Soudal - Quick-Step.
The flat classic saw a group of five riders going up the road in the day featuring Axel Huens, Vincent van Hemelen, Liam Slock, Stijn Appel and Baptiste Planckaert. The group never threatened the peloton too much, who controlled with ease.
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Soudal - Quick-Step, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Team Jayco AlUla pushed the pace in the peloton to favour a bunch sprint, which was not interrupted by the wind present in Belgium.
The final of the survivors from the front group was caught with 7 kilometers to go as Slock pushed on, and from there on a bunch sprint became inevitable with plenty leadouts occupying the whole road.
It was, as expected, a very fast and dangerous finale with several crashes marking it. There was no definite leadout taking to the front within the final kilometer. Danny van Poppel launched his sprint but without Sam Welsford in the wheel.
Tim Merlier took advantage of that, and launched his sprint early. Without Philipsen in the wheel, Merlier stormed to a powerful win, beating his main rival only a few weeks after his defeat at the Classic Brugge-De Panne. He beat the late sprint of Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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