Alpecin-Deceuninck's Timo Kielich has taken a thrilling victory at the 2025 Antwerp Port Epic, holding off the peloton and outsprinting Rasmus Wallin in a dramatic conclusion to the day.
The trio of Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Tuur Dens (Team Flanders - Baloise) and Valentin Retailleau (Team TotalEnergies) all got themselves up the road and into the break relatively early on. In the pack meanwhile, there was early disappointment for one of the pre-race favourites as Lotto leader Arnaud De Lie was forced to abandon the race.
By 50km to go, the leading trio had seen their advantage already cut to around 30 seconds by a peloton that was being diminished with every gravel sector that passed. With 47.5km to go, Retailleau was then caught, leaving just two up ahead of the bunch. With 42km to go, Dens was caught, and only Maciejuk remained. Not for much longer though, as he too was soon back in the peloton.
The next attack off the front came from Alpecin-Deceuninck's Timo Kielich, with the Belgian entering the final 25km leading by around 40 seconds. Despite Kielich putting in a strong showing though, as he neared the 10km to go marker, he started to look behind, with the peloton closing to within 20 seconds. In the peloton, it was Soudal - Quick-Step that were almost singlehandedly chasing at the front of the bunch, hoping for a sprint finish for Tim Merlier.
Damaging the hopes of the chase, a crash then rocked the peloton inside the final 7km, whilst Kielich suddenly had company at the front in the form of Uno-X Mobility's Rasmus Wallin. With 2km to go, they still had 10 seconds on the bunch too, with everything to play for in the finale.
As Kielich and Wallin launched their sprints, victory on the stage was secured and in the end it was a photo finish that was needed to decide the day with Kielich being given the win.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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