Alec Segaert (Lotto Dstny) stormed to the biggest win of his career on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour, confirming his potential as a top time trial prospect at WorldTour level in the race against the clock in Tessenderlo.
The 21-year-old Belgian took the lead with a blistering average speed of 54.4kph and the only time under 17 minutes from ITT specialist Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost), who set the early benchmark time of 17:09 as only the 18th rider of the start ramp.
Segaert punched the air after setting a time of 16:59 and did the same in the hot seat when Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) crossed the line seven seconds slower than him to take second ahead of Bissegger and former time trial world champion Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers).
Race leader Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) tried his best to hold onto his 10-second race lead but what was a six-second deficit to the Belgian Segaert at the first time check quickly grew to a 24-second deficit at the second intermediate point.
Milan eventually crossed the line 43 seconds behind the two-time under 23 European ITT champion, also ceding the race leader's jersey to him heading into the final three stages.
"It's unbelievable. I couldn't have dreamt it this morning. If you see who's on the start here and see the top 10 here, it's unbelievable," said Segaert who took only his second professional victory and first at WorldTour level on stage 2.
"I felt good straight, had a good rhythm. After my recon of the course, I knew where I could make the difference, and everything went fully to plan. There's nothing I could have done better and right away I knew I was doing well. I kept focus and this outcome is fantastic."
Segaert now holds a 12-second lead over Foss and 16 seconds on Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) heading into stage 3 which runs over 185.5km from Blankenberge to Ardooie.
"Now I have the leader's jersey, so we will try to defend that. Especially in the last stage, that won't be easy but meanwhile, this race has been a great success for me. I'm super happy."
How it unfolded
Action on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour started even before Alex Edmondson (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) rolled down the start ramp first in Tessenderlo, with time trial specialist and likely pre-stage favourite Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) pulling out of the race due to fatigue.
With Ganna out, the first big benchmark of the day was set by Swiss TT specialist Bissegger, who stormed to the line in a time of 17:09, knocking Julien Vermote (Visma-Lease a Bike) out of the hot seat by exactly a minute.
Other strong time trial riders Josef Černý (Soudal-QuickStep) and Ryan Mullen (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) set respectable times with speeds averaging more than 52kph, however, they were still 28 and 30 seconds down on Bissegger's time at the finish.
Polish national champion in the discipline, Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) went second fastest with an impressive 17:25, holding a near-16-second gap to the Swiss rider throughout the 15.4km course.
The first big threat to Bissegger came in the form of former World Champion Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers), who, despite being seven seconds down on the Swiss rider at the first immediate time check, managed to close this gap down to below a second at the second and third time checks.
It wasn't to be, however, for Foss, with the Norwegian stopping the clock eight-tenths of a second slower than Bissegger and missing out on a chance at his first time trial victory since Wollongong in 2022.
Top young time trial prospect Segart then went into the lead ahead of Bissegger at the first time check by a narrow 1.5 seconds, however, as the kilometres ticked by, he kept powering on, besting the Swiss rider by 10 seconds at the line in Tessenderlo with the first time under 17 minutes.
With most of the specialists already finished and beaten, Segaert's key challenger remaining was Sheffield, however, the young American couldn't get closer than four seconds down on the Belgian's time, eventually crossing the line seven seconds slower for second.
The win looked certain for Segaert but Milan still had to go in the race leader's jersey, with his track prowess giving him hope against the clock. However, this effort was just too long for the powerful sprinter, losing 37 seconds to the stage winner from the first time check to the finish.
Segaert takes the lead of the race with three stages left to race, however, with the top 20 all within 20 seconds of his lead, he and Lotto Dstny will have their work cut out to defend the jersey all the way to the race's conclusion in Geraardsbergen on Sunday.
Results
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