Eneco Tour: Merlier dominates again in Arnhem

Tim Merlier finishes the Eneco Tour in the best possible way: a triumphant sprint in Arnhem, his second stage win in the race, and his 14th win of the season in 2026. Truly cannibalistic numbers for the Belgian sprinter from Soudal-QuickStep, who confirms himself as a key figure on every fantasy cycling team when the finish line is suited to sprinters.

The final stage, 149.2 km long, seemed designed for the sprinters from the start. Soudal-QuickStep took the lead in the finale and worked with great authority to keep everything under control. Unibet Rose Rockets attempted to respond in the final kilometer with a train for Dylan Groenewegen , but the preparation for the sprint seemed rather disorganized.

Behind his rival, Merlier was ready to strike: he launched a sprint, overtook Groenewegen with extreme ease and built up a large lead which he maintained until the finish line, winning without any particular difficulty.

Also on the podium was Davide Donati (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies), third, ahead of Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek), fourth, and Elmar Reinders (Unibet Rose Rockets), fifth. Sixth was Lukáš Kubiš, also from Unibet Rose Rockets, followed by Gerben Thijssen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Florian Dauphin (Totalenergies), Steffen De Schuyteneer (Lotto-Intermarché) and Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), tenth.

At Visma, the party was assured: Victor Campenaerts took the overall classification, his first stage race victory . The Belgian finished 15 seconds ahead of Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets), while Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) rounded out the podium 30 seconds behind. Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) finished fourth, 38 seconds behind, with Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep) fifth, 1:02 behind.

Sprint Cycling Photos