Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) had no joy on the opening stage of Baloise Belgium Tour today as Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was best in the sprint for stage victory from a much reduced front group.
With the 165km stage from Merelbeke to Maarkedal finishing on a circuit with some short sharp climbs, some of the sprinters were distanced from the front group while others survive.
Pedersen claimed victory ahead of Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix) on a day when just 18 riders finished on the same time as the winner. Philipsen went too early in the uphill sprint and though he opened a gap he soon tied up, with Pedersen having more stamina and passing him to win.
There were a total of 16 climbs on the course today, many of them packed into the finishing circuits, which accounted for the last 60km of the stage. Bennett was one of the sprinters, along with Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl), to be distanced when the attacks began once the race reached the circuits and some early attackers had been brought back.
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Bennett lost contact with the rapidly thinning peloton with some 30km remaining and finished the stage in 90th place in a group at 10:55. Irish champion, and Bennett's team mate, Ryan Mullen was in 103rd at 11:50.
However, while some of the fast men coped better with the hilly terrain and attacking today, tomorrow's stage 2 and stage 5 on Sunday look like more straightforward opportunities for the pure sprinters.
