Renewi Tour | Race Report

Renewi Tour

August 20, 2026

Stage 5: Leuven -> Leuven

The now seemingly traditional final day parcours around Leuven saw Team Picnic PostNL set-up Pavel Bittner to attack on the penultimate short climb, to try and go clear in a group; aiming for both the stage result and to move up on GC. It was a strong effort, but his group was caught towards the top of the last climb. From there, all attention turned to a sprint finish, but a crash in the group at two kilometres saw the squad held up and therefore unable to compete for a result on the day.

Results

AV Speed: 44.657/H
Distance: 183.7KM
Vert meters: 1821M

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	4:06:49.000	-
2	MOZZATO Luca	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	,,	-
3	TEUNISSEN Mike	XDS Astana Team	,,	-
37	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
41	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
55	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	0:40.000	-
89	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	3:20.000	-
99	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	4:09.000	-
105	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	10:55.000	-
DNF	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL		-

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	19:28:57.000
2	BERCKMOES Jenno	Lotto Intermarché	0:14.000
3	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:20.000
17	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:44.000
40	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	3:22.000
49	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	4:02.000
96	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	27:41.000
107	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	32:40.000
109	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	38:17.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech		134
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		72
3	TEUNISSEN Mike	XDS Astana Team		46
14	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL		23

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MATTIO Pietro	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike	19:29:41.000
2	GRUEL Thibaud	Groupama - FDJ United	0:52.000
3	BORGO Alessandro	Bahrain - Victorious	2:45.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	XDS Astana Team		58:28:58.000
2	Team Flanders - Baloise		0:05.000
3	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team		0:17.000
4	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike		0:27.000
5	Unibet Rose Rockets		1:44.000
6	Groupama - FDJ United		2:28.000
7	Uno-X Mobility		2:43.000
8	Bahrain - Victorious		3:03.000
9	EF Education - EasyPost		3:21.000
10	Alpecin - Premier Tech		4:04.000
12	Team Picnic PostNL		6:01.000

Stage 4: Riemst -> Bilzen-Hoeselt

A rolling day over the hills wouldn’t be enough to deter the sprinters on Saturday, with another fast finish set-up into Bilzen-Hoeselt. Team Picnic PostNL rode well as unit and brought Pavel Bittner into a position to contend for the finale in the last kilometre. Unfortunately, Bittner tried to go through a gap that got squeezed in front of him so he had to restart his effort, taking tenth place come the line.

Results

AV Speed: 47.268/H
Distance: 187.3KM
Vert meters: 1457M

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	3:57:45.000	-
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	,,	-
3	BORGO Alessandro	Bahrain - Victorious	,,	-
10	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
37	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
58	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
83	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	2:49.000	-
86	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
101	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	6:17.000	-
115	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	15:22:18.000
2	BERCKMOES Jenno	Lotto Intermarché	0:04.000
3	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:10.000
17	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:34.000
43	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	3:12.000
44	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
106	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	23:22.000
110	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	25:14.000
114	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	27:12.000
118	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	29:10.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech		104
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		72
3	BENNETT Sam	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team		39
11	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL		23

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MATTIO Pietro	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike	15:22:52.000
2	GRUEL Thibaud	Groupama - FDJ United	0:52.000
3	BORGO Alessandro	Bahrain - Victorious	2:45.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	XDS Astana Team		46:08:31.000
2	Team Flanders - Baloise		0:05.000
3	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team		0:17.000
4	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike		0:27.000
5	Unibet Rose Rockets		1:44.000
6	Groupama - FDJ United		2:28.000
7	Uno-X Mobility		2:43.000
8	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		3:00.000
9	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe		3:02.000
10	Bahrain - Victorious		3:03.000
13	Team Picnic PostNL		5:21.000

Stage 3: Celles -> Geraardsbergen

Stage 3 of the Renewi Tour brought a true classics-style test, with the finish in Geraardsbergen featuring iconic cobbled climbs including De Muur, Bosberg and Paterberg. Three riders went clear early in the stage, with their advantage never growing beyond 3 minutes. On the first of three local finishing laps, three more riders bridged across, forming a six-rider lead group with a 40-second advantage. The breakaway was caught on the second passage of De Muur, where the peloton exploded into several groups. Two riders moved clear at the front, while Pavel Bittner remained in the reduced group behind for Team Picnic PostNL. Berckmoes held on from the leading duo to take the stage win, with Bittner our first rider across the line.

Results

AV Speed: 43.823/H
Distance: 182KM
Vert meters: 1916M

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	BERCKMOES Jenno	Lotto Intermarché	4:09:11.000	-
2	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	0:03.000	-
3	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	,,	-
14	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:11.000	-
48	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	2:49.000	-
49	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
92	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	10:42.000	-
117	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	16:10.000	-
118	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
119	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	BERCKMOES Jenno	Lotto Intermarché	11:24:37.000
2	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	0:06.000
3	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:12.000
17	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:30.000
46	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	3:08.000
48	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
105	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	17:01.000
109	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	18:53.000
120	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	24:19.000
123	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	26:17.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech		74
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		47
3	WÆRENSKJOLD Søren	Uno-X Mobility		32
15	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL		13

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MATTIO Pietro	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike	11:25:07.000
2	GRUEL Thibaud	Groupama - FDJ United	0:52.000
3	BORGO Alessandro	Bahrain - Victorious	2:49.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	XDS Astana Team		34:15:16.000
2	Team Flanders - Baloise		0:05.000
3	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team		0:17.000
4	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike		0:27.000
5	Unibet Rose Rockets		1:44.000
6	Groupama - FDJ United		2:28.000
7	Uno-X Mobility		2:43.000
8	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe		2:47.000
9	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		3:00.000
10	Netcompany INEOS		3:02.000
15	Team Picnic PostNL		5:21.000

Stage 2: Blankenberge -> Ardooie

Another sprint stage awaited the peloton in Belgium, with the traditional fast and twisting finish into Ardooie on the menu. Crosswind threats made the stage nervous and the early break was already caught with 80 kilometres to go. Unfortunately there was a large crash in the peloton, which saw several of the team affected, but they were all able to continue the stage. Coming into the final ten kilometres some good teamwork brought Pavel Bittner back to the peloton after a puncture, although at the expense of some energy. In the deep final, the Ardooie finish once again proved to be tight and hard to move up, with Bittner launching his sprint from deep and finishing just outside the top ten.

Results

AV Speed: 54.5/H
Distance: 173.9KM
Vert meters: 470M

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	3:11:27.000	-
2	GIDDINGS Joshua	Lotto Intermarché	,,	-
3	WÆRENSKJOLD Søren	Uno-X Mobility	,,	-
14	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
52	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
57	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
105	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	0:30.000	-
120	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	2:53.000	-
128	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	7:50.000	-
129	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech	7:15:35.000
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:04.000
3	DE BONDT Dries	Team Jayco AlUla	,,
19	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:10.000
48	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
59	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
106	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	2:34.000
121	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	6:10.000
124	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	8:00.000
132	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	9:58.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin - Premier Tech		49
2	MERLIER Tim	Soudal Quick-Step		32
3	MILAN Jonathan	Lidl - Trek		30
12	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL		13

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	VAN MECHELEN Vlad	Bahrain - Victorious	7:15:43.000
2	SHMIDT Artem	Netcompany INEOS	0:01.000
3	ERŽEN Žak	Bahrain - Victorious	0:02.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	Lotto Intermarché		21:47:15.000
2	Bahrain - Victorious		,,
3	NSN Cycling Team		,,
4	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe		,,
5	Groupama - FDJ United		,,
6	Team Flanders - Baloise		,,
7	Unibet Rose Rockets		,,
8	EF Education - EasyPost		,,
9	Team Picnic PostNL		,,
10	Team Visma \| Lease a Bike		,,

Stage 1: Diest -> Diest

The summer heatwave well and truly disappeared for the opening stage of the Renewi Tour with the peloton riding under heavy rain conditions for a lot of the day. It meant the strong five rider break got deep into the stage, but they were ultimately caught by the bunch. Team Picnic PostNL rode well as a group throughout the afternoon to keep fast finisher Pavel Bittner safe and bring him into a spot to launch his sprint. To not get boxed in, Bittner started his effort at around 250 metres to go, producing a good kick, and was only passed by some of the best sprinters in the world, holding onto seventh place at the line.

Results

AV Speed: 46.983/H
Distance: 191.3KM
Vert meters: 1090M

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MILAN Jonathan	Lidl - Trek	4:04:18.000	-
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	,,	-
3	MERLIER Tim	Soudal Quick-Step	,,	-
7	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
33	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
46	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
83	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,	-
117	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	1:54.000	-
126	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	1:58.000	-
140	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	3:07.000	-

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MILAN Jonathan	Lidl - Trek	4:04:08.000
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:04.000
3	DE BONDT Dries	Team Jayco AlUla	,,
12	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL	0:10.000
38	CORKERY Dillon	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
50	VAN DEN BERG Julius	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
84	FLYNN Sean	Team Picnic PostNL	,,
118	NABERMAN Tim	Team Picnic PostNL	2:04.000
127	EEKHOFF Nils	Team Picnic PostNL	2:08.000
140	KNOX James	Team Picnic PostNL	3:17.000

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	MILAN Jonathan	Lidl - Trek		30
2	KOOIJ Olav	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		25
3	MERLIER Tim	Soudal Quick-Step		22
7	BITTNER Pavel	Team Picnic PostNL		13

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	VAN MECHELEN Vlad	Bahrain - Victorious	4:04:18.000
2	GRUEL Thibaud	Groupama - FDJ United	,,
3	BORGO Alessandro	Bahrain - Victorious	,,

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Points
1	Bahrain - Victorious		12:12:54.000
2	Lotto Intermarché		,,
3	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe		,,
4	NSN Cycling Team		,,
5	Team Flanders - Baloise		,,
6	Unibet Rose Rockets		,,
7	Team Picnic PostNL		,,
8	Decathlon CMA CGM Team		,,
9	Lidl - Trek		,,
10	Groupama - FDJ United		,,

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