Tim Merlier victorious once again at Renewi Tour - European Champion continues sprint domination

The Renewi Tour saw a very fast stage on this, the fourth day of racing, but the outcome was not unexpected. Soudal - Quick-Step have continued their winning run as Tim Merlier won the bunch sprint, a very fast one where the breakaway even threatened to take the win.

The fourth stage of the race saw a strong breakaway go up the road and threaten the sprinters on the day. We've had Dries de Bondt, Lukas Kubi, Colby Simmons, Leander van Haytegem, Ward Vanhoof and Michel Ries. From this group De Bondt would go on to chase down more bonus seconds and an improvement in the overall classification, as he has in the opening days of the race.

The presence of the strong group up front meant the hilly parts of the stage didn't see GC action, but instead a consistently fast pace with the sprinter teams looking to close down the gap. Visma, Lotto, Picnic PostNL and Quick-Step were the teams that did the majority of the work and it was a very complicated affair, as the front group carried serious firepower into the final kilometers.

De Bondt and Kubis forced the peloton to go all-out into the very last kilometers, surviving until the 2-kilometer to go banner. Team Jayco AlUla took over the head of the peloton and Edoardo Affini tried to surprise with a late attack, setting up for a dramatic sprint. It was also a chaotic one, with Olav Kooij launching first, but too early. Merlier came from behind with speed and power and took a victory that looked rather unchallenged. Olav Kooij and Pavel Bittner completed the podium.