As usual, Team Saxo-Tinkoff Dane, Michael Mørkøv demonstrated terrific form and strong motivation as he launched an attack and participated in the long breakaway during today's 195 kilometer long initial stage of Tour de l'Eurométropole from La Louviére to Moorslede.

Even though the five escapees worked very well together, they weren't able to deny the peloton and they were brought back entering the final where a bunch sprint was underway as several teams were fighting for the right position. And eventually the sprinter teams thundered towards the finish line where Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Belisol) was the fastest of all.

Along the way, Saxo-Tinkoff Dane, Michael Mørkøv won three bonus sprints and earned enough seconds to take second position overall:

“It was a really fast start of the stage and everyone wanted to go and we had all our guys in different breaks. When the break finally went away, we had our probably strongest card, Michael Mørkøv up there sprinting his way to crucial bonus seconds and he can now enjoy the view from the podium. This race is traditionally won with only a few seconds so today's effort was money in the bank and now we have to stay focused to remain the position,” said Saxo-Tinkoff DS, Dan Frost.