Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening stage of the 2024 Tour de Wallonie, powering away from the rest of the sprint field in the final 250 metres into Fleurus.
Third place Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) was led out best round the final corner after some riders went the wrong direction with 1.5km to go and crashed, however, he was quickly overhauled by Madis Mihkels (Intermarché-Wanty) and Meeus, who stormed up the left-hand side to take victory.
It's the 11th win in the career of Meeus and the second since his famous win on the Champs Élysées at last year's Tour de France. It's also the second for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe since their new title sponsor came on board in June.
"It was a pretty hard stage, also pretty hectic with 1.5km to go when some guys crashed but I managed to stay in a good position and launch my sprint at the perfect time," said Meeus after the stage.
"For sure this victory wouldn't have been possible without them. Not so many sprinters in this race so a lot of riders wanted to ride away with a small break but my team did a perfect job with keeping everything together and I'm super happy to finish it off."
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