Max Kanter opens Baloise Belgium Tour with 3rd place finish for Astana

According to the team's official website, Stage 1 of the Baloise Belgium Tour had a distance of 188,3 kilometers in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, where the race was finished with the bunch sprint. The team sprinter Max Kanter claimed third place.

"First of all, it was a good start for us here at the Tour of Belgium. I think we raced very well as a team. There were a lot of attacks during the final two laps, but the guys did a great job covering the important moves and keeping an eye on the general classification contenders, which allowed me to stay calm and save energy for the finish. In the end, it came down to a bunch sprint, and our goal was to remain patient and composed throughout the finale. Everything worked out really well. The team did an outstanding job positioning me and delivering me into the final 200 meters. Today, two riders were simply faster, but overall I think it was a very good start to the race. We can still improve a few details, and hopefully over the next stages we can fight for a stage victory," said Max Kanter.

The Tour of Belgium runs from June 17 to 21. The team also includes Aaron Gate, Alessandro Romele, Gleb Syritsa, Mike Teunissen, Davide Toneatti, and XDS Astana Development Team rider Gustav Wang.

Earlier, it was reported that Kazakhstan's Alexandr Vinokurov, Olympic champion and General Manager of XDS Astana Team, presented a team jersey to Pope Leo XIV.