Minerva Classic Brugge-De Panne: Tim Merlier wins ahead of Dylan Groenewegen in photo-finish

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) edged out Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) to win the Minerva Classic Brugge-De Panne on Wednesday.

The pair could only be separated in a photo finish, with Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) taking third.

In a messy and frantic finish with several crashes, a number of the pre-race favorites were either boxed-in or held up. Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) hit the deck with 1.5km to go, while Mark Cavendish found himself too far back after the final corner. The British sprinter ran out of gas in the finale and sat up when he realized that he was too far back.

At the front of the race Merlier benefited from a near-perfect lead-out with Jonas Rickaert taking a huge turn on the front. That helped set up Merlier, although BikeExchange did everything they could to keep Groenewegen in contention.

When Merlier opened his sprint he already had a slight advantage on the right hand side of the road. Groenewegen, coming through the middle, battled back but was unable to close the gap before the line. Bouhanni did an excellent job of surfing the wheels and making sure that he was positioned well. He too had a powerful finish but he started his sprint from slightly too far back.

The win marked Merlier’s third victory of the season.

“I was a really hectic final. I was already happy to get safely over the finish line and then I crossed the finish line, and I didn’t know that I’d won the race. It was the same for Dylan. We asked each other but nobody knew. We were waiting a long time, which is never nice,” Merlier told VeloNews at the finish.

The day’s early break involving Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Dmitri Peyskens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB), and Jens Reynders (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) was brought back inside the final 30km.

Several teams attempted to take charge of the race once the break had been caught with Cofidis, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, and Bora-Hansgrohe leading the charge.

Road furniture played a huge role with several crashes in the closing stages. A Movistar rider hit a race marshal in one incident but heading into the final 10km most of the sprinters were still well supported.