Timed to perfection! Tim Merlier powers into race lead at Renewi Tour 2025 with stage 1 win

In a dramatic finale to the opening stage of the 2025 Renewi Tour, Soudal - Quick-Step's Tim Merlier has powered to the win, and as a result takes the early race lead.

A breakaway of seven riders formed immediately from the start, with the peloton showing no resistance as they quickly gained a gap. The group comprised Robert Stannard, Max Walker, Jelte Krijnsen, Siebe Deweirdt, Milan Lanhove, Axandre van Petegem, and Andreas Stokbro. Working well together, they built an early advantage of around 1 minute and 30 seconds.

As the stage progressed and the intensity in the peloton increased, the break's lead began to shrink. By the time the riders reached the 110km-to-go mark, their advantage had dwindled to just 20 seconds. Despite the high pace of around 49km/h, the seven-man move managed to stay intact, even as their margin steadily eroded. Elsewhere in the race, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's Anton Palzer was forced to abandon, bringing an early end to his Renewi Tour campaign.

Following the catch, a flurry of counterattacks led to the formation of a much larger and more powerful front group. A total of 16 riders broke clear, establishing a lead of just over 30 seconds. With the pace continuing to rise — averaging above 49km/h — it was clear the race was shaping up to be an intense battle.

The new front group featured a host of strong riders, including Rui Oliveira, Tibor del Grosso, Gianni Vermeersch, Paul Magnier, Jasper Stuyven, Robert Stannard, Dries de Bondt, Kasper Asgreen, Ryan Mullen, Frank van den Broek, Jelte Krijnsen, Mike Teunissen, Jarrad Drizners, Kenneth van Rooy, Rick Pluimers, and Axel Huens. With the peloton hovering 35 seconds behind, the race was wide open heading into the final kilometres.

This was still the situation by the time the race entered the final 20km of the day. The peloton though, within 30 seconds of the break were far from out of the hunt just yet. By 10km to go, despite some signs of in-fighting beginning in the break, the lack of cohesion in the chase meant they'd actually held their advantage at around 30 seconds.

At just over 5km to go there was a big crash in the peloton with sprint hopefuls Sam Welsford and Marijn van den Berg caught up in the incident. At the front meanwhile, just inside 5km from the line, the break was finally caught by the peloton.

With the attention of the bunch then turning towards the sprint finale, there was an almighty battle for position at the front heading into the last kilometre. Once the sprints opened, it was Pavel Bittner that kicked first, but European champion Tim Merlier powered around the Czech to claim the stage win.