As it happened: Scheldeprijs Men decided in bunch sprint

Hello and welcome to the 2025 men's Scheldeprijs!

With the Tour of Flanders three days ago, and Paris-Roubaix coming up in four day’s time, the sprinters have a midweek day to enjoy in between the two cobbled monuments.

Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel, Robbie McEwan, Tom Boonen, Mark Cavendish, Alessandro Pettachi, Marcel Kittel, Fabio Jakosen - it’s clear from just looking at the list of past recent winners that this is a race for the fast-man, often won by whichever rider is the quickest sprinter in the world at that time.

That trend has continued into the last two editions, won by Jasper Philipsen in 2023 and Tim Merlier in 2024. Both riders are present again this year, and the two clear favourites for the win.

They and the rest of the field are on the move in the neutralised one, and will be racing for real soon.

Weather can have an impact on Scheldeprijs and make things complicated for the sprinters, but that doesn’t appear to be the case today. The riders have been greeted by blue skies at the start, and wind isn’t set to be a factor today.

OFFICIAL START

And they're off!

Two riders scheduled to start have not managed to make it - Erik Resell (Uno-X) and Alessio Delle Vedove (XDS-Astana).

Five riders have managed to get a small gap, and another three are in pursuit of them.

A group of 6 has formed, and the peloton has sat up - this is our break of the day. We'll have a full rundown of who's in it shortly. 

190KM TO GO

The (8, rather than 6) riders are:

Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto)

Yentl Vandevelde (Team Flanders - Baloise)

Alex Colman (Team Flanders - Baloise)

Ceriel Desal (Wagner Bazin WB)

Jelle Vermoote (Wagner Bazin WB)

Bram Dissel (BEAT Cycling Club)

Lars Loohuis (BEAT Cycling Club)

Abram Stockman (Unibet Tietema Rockets)

The gap has already grown to over 3-30 - these will be the 8 riders who will spend most of the day in the lead.

There's been a crash, with three riders down - Jonas Iversby Hvideberg and Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Uno-X Mobility, and Jens Reynders of Wagner Bazin WB.

180KM TO GO

The gap between the 8 leaders and the peloton has stabilised at around three minutes. We can expect this holding pattern to last for a while.

 Reynders is back in the peloton having been involved in the crash.

The 8 riders up the road.

170KM TO GO

The race is relaxed and the peloton has the break under control. They’re happy to give them just over three minutes, but not more than that - right now the gap’s at 3-17.

There’s plenty of other cycling happening today. The women’s Scheldeprijs is further up the road, for which we’ll have a report of what happened when it finishes in about an hour, while you can follow stage three of Itzulia Basque Country here.

There have been a couple of abandons - Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies) and Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X Mobility) have left the race.

While we wait for the action to get going here, have a read of some of our other stories.

The world of cycling is brimming with excitement for Tadej Pogačar appointment with the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, a day that promises to be the event of the season, and could make the Slovenian even more of a modern day legend than he already is. We took a look at his past experiences on those iconic roads.

The race is waking up - there are splits in the peloton!

The peloton has been split into three different groups.

The gaps between these groups are growing - there are 25 seconds between the first peloton and the second, and 25 seconds between the second peloton and the third.

150KM TO GO

All of this action is also seeing the break's lead tumble, down to little more than a minute.

The third and second pelotons have joined together. They're now trying to close the gap to the first peloton.

The race is really on. The front peloton isn't letting up, and still has 45 seconds on the group behind. They're also bearing down on the original break, now just 50 seconds up the road.

There are about 50 riders in the front peloton.

These are the 8 riders in the lead - but for how much longer? The front peloton is bearing down on them.

140KM TO GO

As things stand, there are 30 seconds between the leading break and the first peloton, and another 30 seconds between the first peloton and the second peloton. There's another group further adrift, too, about 1-30 back from the second peloton. 

You can tell from the riders' faces that they're going much harder now post-splits than they were earlier in the day.

130KM TO GO

It seems all the gaps have stabilised for now. It’s being reported that there’s still about 30 seconds between the two pelotons, and that the break’s lead is also about 30 seconds.

The riders have crossed the border back from the Netherlands into Belgium. That’ll also mean they should arrive into less exposed, which might see these splits be closed up again.

The race has indeed calmed down, and the two pelotons have come back together. 

110KM TO GO

There are now about 50 seconds between the breakaway and the now-reformed peloton.

The break was reduced at some point earlier. There are now just four riders in it: Tijmen Eising, Baptiste Veistroffer, Tuur Dens and Ceriel Desal.

100KM TO GO

The break's lead is reducing, now down to just 30 seconds or so.

The women's race has finished - you can find out everything that happened here.

Now the pelotons are back together, it’s a good time to consider some of the favourites in the likely event of a bunch sprint.

With 6 wins to his name already this year, defending champion Tim Merlier is surely the man to beat. He’s won more than any other rider in the world this year, and is clearly back up to speed after his crash at Classic Brugge-De Panne after winning the sprint for second-place at Gent-Wevelgem - that would have been a victory had the peloton managed to catch Mads Pedersen that day.

The pace in the peloton has slowed again. Consequently, some more riders dropped earlier in the day have just re-joined it.

90KM TO GO

The slowing of the pace has also allowed the break's lead to grow again, back up to just over a minute. The peloton wouldn't want to bring them back so early, with almost half the race still to come. 

Jasper Philipsen has not been sprinting as fast as his compatriot and rival Tim Merlier, but has a chance to issue some revenge on him today. In fact, Philipsen’s won just once this year (at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne), though has still been riding well even if his sprint is lacking something. 

Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix is a bigger goal for the Belgian, but he’ll still be eager for a win to end his (relative) dry spell.

The four riders left in the break, who have now been given more leeway. Their lead is still over a minute. 

A reminder that you can also follow our live report of the Itzulia Basque Country stage taking place today.

80KM TO GO

80km to go, and the gap's still hovering just above a minute.

70KM TO GO

The gap's down a little again, to 45 seconds. But there's no urgency in the peloton to bring them back just yet.

Soudal-QuickStep lead the peloton, with a long line of Lidl-Trek riders behind them. The latter don't have their main sprinter Milan here, but must fancy the chances of Ed Theuns, who won Bredene Koksijde a few weeks ago.

60KM TO GO

As we near the final quarter of the race, the gap between the leaders and the peloton is 1-08. 

The leaders are on the cobbled Broekstraat sector, which they'll take on another three times on this finishingcircuit. It pales in comparison to what we'll see on Sunday at Paris-Robai, but does give rhe riders something to think about on this otherwise straightfoward, pan-flat course.

Another favourite for the day is Jayco-AlUla’s Dylan Groenewegen. The Dutchman often blows hot and cold, and hasn’t won a race all year, but when he’s good he’s very good. If he can get his positioning right in the finale, he has the raw speed to potentially beat anyone. 

Groenewegen's Jayco-AlUla is one of the many teams near the front of the bunched peloton, as well as Theuns' Lidl-Trek and Alberto Dainese's Tudor Pro Cycling.

50KM TO GO

The leading four cross the finish line for the first time. They'll now complete three laps of the finishing circuit. 

Now the peloton cross the line, 1-22 later. The gap has grown some more. 

Loïc Vliegen's had a mechanical, though the pace is slow enough for him to be able to catch up.

There are some Flemish flags out on the roadside today. With attention turning o across the border in France for Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, then to the Ardennes for those classics, this will be the final phase of the part of the spring where Flanders is at the centre of everything.

Merlier has made his way back to the peloton through the cars having dropped off briefly. He's very conspicuous in his white European champions' jersey.

40KM TO GO

The pace is faster than it was, with Lidl-Trek pushing on at the front of the peloton. The gap to the leaders has thus come down, to just beneath a minute. 

Bike change for Pavel Bittner. He's one to watch in the finale - the young sprinter looked good at Volta a Catalunya, where he registered a couple of podium finishes, and is Team Picnic PostNL’s designated leader today.

Tuur Dens has dropped out of the break, and is about to be caught by the peloton.

The three riders left in the break are back on the finishing straight. They have 2 more laps left to ride, amounting to 34km.

30KM TO GO

55 seconds is the gap. Lidl-Trek are still prominent in the peloton, though other teams are swarmed around them.

Philipsen has just been brought back into the peloton with the help of two teammates. Not clear why he was out the back, but doesn't seem to have been a significant problem. 

The riders are back on the 'cobbles' again for the Broekstraat sector. 

Problem for Gerben Thijssen. He's been dropped on the Broekstraat, as well as Dens.

Thijssen had some kind of mechanical. He's got a teammate with him trying to help him back into the peloton.

Back in the break, Eising's been dropped. That leaves just Desal and  Veistroffer in the front group.

20KM TO GO

The speed is really up now. The peloton are just 20 seconds away from the two leaders, and preparing for the finale.

Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe have become increasingly prominent at the front, but it's still Lidl-Trek who are most in control.

LAST LAP

The riders hear the bell for the last lap! The two breakaway riders are first to the line, but only just - the peloton can see them and are only seconds away.

Ceriel Desal has attacked to ensure he'll be the last man to be caught.

Veistroffer has been caught, but Desal still has some daylight between himself and the bunch. 

Desal clearly had something left in the tank. He's still holding his lead, and has 8 seconds on the peloton. He's still surely going to be caught, but is showing impressive strength to stay out there.

CRASH

There's been a crash towards the front of the peloton.

There's been a lot of riders held up, as the crash occured near the front of the peloton on quite a narrow road.

10KM TO GO

The race goes on, and Desal still has a fews seconds on what's left of the peloton as he moves past the final 10km marker.

Desal's day is at an end, he's been caught by the front peloton.

Philipsen and Groenewegen are both still in this lead group.

There are maybe around 50 or 60 riders in the peloton now.

Most of the biggest sprinters do seem to be present though - Merlier and Welsford are also here, and the latter's Red Bull team is pushing on at the front of the peloton.

A long line of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe riders lead the peloton. They're controlling things for now.

Those Red Bull riders are looking around, and it appears that their main sprinter for the day Welsford isn't actually here.

5KM TO GO

Last 5km, and Lidl-Trek are back at the front.

Behind the peloton, Tudor are leading the chase, but it's a tall order from here. Thijssen is one of the sprinters in that straggling group.

Still Lidl lead. They're looking very confident today. 

There is still a line of 5 Lidl riders leading as they enter 3km to go.

Cofidis are challenging. Their sprinter Milan Fretin is presumably in this lead group.

Theuns, Philipsen, Merlier, Groenewegen are all looking well-positioned. 2km to go

1KM TO GO

Still Lidl lead unde the 1km to go barrier.

Here's the sprint, Philipsen and Merlier are going for it

MERLIER WINS

Tim Merlier takes the win!

Merlier edged Philipsen into second.

That's Merlier's seventh win of the season. His status as best sprinter in the world is solidified.

Matteo Moschetti was 3rd, Milan Fretin 4th and Danny van Poppel 5th

Simone Consonni was the last man to do Lidl-s very impressive lead-out, but Danny van Poppoel couldn;t finish off the job, fading to fifth. Philipsen started his sprint from a strong position and led for much of it, but Merlier came charging through from deep and ultimately won by a comfortable margin.

Thanks for joining us today, where Tim Merlier once again proved himself to be the quickest sprinter in the world with yet another victory.

Both his and runner-up Jasper Philipsen’s attention now turns to Sunday, where they will convene with all of the best classics specialists in the world, for what is always one of the events of the season - Paris-Roubaix. Be sure to join us once more as we witness Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and co. for what promises to be a classic.