Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) finished off the Eneco Tour with a commanding sprint into Arnhem to take his second stage win of the race and 14 of the 2026 season.
The Belgian's team were prominent doing the work on the run-in of the 149.2km stage, which always looked set to conclude with a sprint finish. Unibet Rose Rockets countered in the final kilometre with a lead-out for Dylan Groenewegen which ended up looking rather ragged.
Behind them, Merlier was poised to strike, accelerating past his rival with ease and hitting the front with a large gap he'd keep to the line in a comfortable win.
Groenewegen ended the day a distant second place – a second runner-up spot behind Merlier this race – while Davide Donati (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) rounede out the podium.
The sprint finish was set up after solo attacker MichieL Mouris (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was caught with 7.5km to go. The Dutchman had bridged across to the three-man breakaway of Marijn Maas (BEAT p/b Saxo), Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam), and Mattanja Woets (VokerWessles) with 23km left to run before eventually going solo.
The charging peloton, invested in a sprint finish, dutifully marked out any further attacks on the front, leaving the likes of Soudal-QuickStep, Unibet Rose Rockets, and Visma-Lease a Bike to lead the way into the final kilometres and the inevitable sprint.
Meanwhile, Visma's Victor Campenaerts could end the day, and the race, in celebratory fashion, the Belgian having clinched the overall victory – his first in a stage race – with a 15-second gap over Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets) while Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took third overall, 30 seconds back.
Results
Position | Rider (Country) Team | Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep | 3:05:07 |
2 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
3 | Davide Donati (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies | |
4 | Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) Lidl-Trek | |
5 | Elmar Reinders (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
6 | Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
7 | Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech | |
8 | Florian Dauphin (Fra) Totalenergies | |
9 | Steffen De Schuyteneer (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché | |
10 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike | |
11 | Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | |
12 | Jochem Kerckhaert (Ned) Beat Cc P/B Saxo | |
13 | Pavel Bittner (Cze) Picnic PostNL | |
14 | Roy Hoogendoorn (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | |
15 | Nolan Huysmans (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | |
16 | Jesse Kramer (Ned) Beat Cc P/B Saxo | |
17 | Roan Konings (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | |
18 | Danijel Agricola (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | |
19 | David Dekker (Ned) Beat Cc P/B Saxo | |
20 | Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | |
21 | Mike Bronswijk (Ned) Eew-Vdk Cyclingteam | |
22 | Tomáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
23 | Wessel Mouris (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
24 | Pierre Thierry (Fra) Totalenergies | |
25 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike | |
26 | Simon Goossens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team | |
27 | Hartthijs De Vries (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | |
28 | Leander Van Hautegem (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | |
29 | Ferre Geeraerts (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | |
30 | Pepijn Reinderink (Ned) Soudal-QuickStep | |
31 | Julius Van Den Berg (Ned) Picnic PostNL | |
32 | Pietro Mattio (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike | |
33 | Edward Theuns (Bel) Lidl-Trek | |
34 | Bert Bolle (Bel) Volkerwessels | |
35 | Sente Sentjens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech | |
36 | Siebe Deweirdt (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | |
37 | Otto Van Zanden (Ned) Parkhotel Valkenburg | |
38 | Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Visma-Lease a Bike | |
39 | Benedikt Benz (Ger) Lidl-Trek Future Racing | |
40 | Julian Vergouw (Ned) Metec- Solarwatt P/B Mantel | |
41 | Ethan Edward Hayter (GBr) Soudal-QuickStep | |
42 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep | |
43 | Nicola Marcerou (Fra) Totalenergies | |
44 | Paul Conor (Fra) Vendee U Primeo Energie | |
45 | Chiel Schulten (Ned) Eew-Vdk Cyclingteam |
Position | Rider (Country) Team | Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike | 11:49:26 |
2 | Wessel Mouris (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:15 |
3 | Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:30 |
4 | Tomáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets | 0:00:38 |
5 | Pepijn Reinderink (Ned) Soudal-QuickStep | 0:01:02 |
6 | Milan Lanhove (Bel) Team Flanders- Baloise | 0:01:06 |
7 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike | 0:01:09 |
8 | Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) Lidl-Trek | 0:01:16 |
9 | Pierre Thierry (Fra) Totalenergies | 0:01:17 |
10 | Steffen De Schuyteneer (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché | 0:01:22 |
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