Bahrain Victorious continued its strong run of results on the Belgian roads, as Pau Miquel sprinted to an excellent second place at the Antwerp Port Epic, finishing behind Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike), while Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla) completed the podium in third.

The demanding combination of gravel sectors, cobblestones and unusually warm temperatures for Belgium made the race even tougher and fully worthy of its reputation.

The 195-kilometre race, starting and finishing in Antwerp, featured 41.5 kilometres of unpaved roads and 28.5 kilometres of cobblestones, creating selection throughout the day exactly as expected. Pau Miquel managed to make the decisive move, joining a nine-rider leading group with around 50 kilometres remaining. The front group worked well together before the attacks started flying in the final 10 kilometres.

Per Strand Hagenes, Brent Van Moer and Dries De Bondt were among the most active riders in the finale, but it was the Norwegian rider who launched the winning attack with 600 metres to go, opening a decisive gap and holding on to the finish line. 

Behind them, the peloton, led home in the sprint by Tim Merlier, never managed to close the 30 seconds gap despite a strong chase.

Pau Miquel commented after taking second place:

“Today I was feeling super good from the start, so I knew I had to take the opportunity to fight for the win. Once we got into that group of eight riders, I tried to stay smart and not waste too much energy because I really trusted my sprint. Hagenes was simply stronger today.

I want to thank the whole team – riders and staff – for their confidence in me. The team is in a really good moment, with strong results, and you can truly feel that positive energy.”

Sports Director Nikolas Maes praised the team’s tactical approach:

“The guys did a really good job today. We decided to be a bit less active early on and focus mainly on surviving the key moments of the race.

Pau’s move was ideal because we knew the race would explode after that point. He anticipated perfectly and made the right group. Then we told the riders to let some of the others work while focusing on the finale, which actually worked out very well.

Hagenes was extremely strong and honestly deserved the victory. The attacks from Van Moer also pushed everyone to the limit, and combined with Hagenes’ effort, it made the difference.

Still, second place for Pau is a great result and a really strong performance. Even in the peloton we still had four riders in the group, and Matevž Govekar also finished just outside the top ten.

Overall, we can be very happy with the race and with the way the team performed.”