For the second day in a row, Gianni Meersman finished second in a Tour de Wallonie sprint. However, the Belgian was not too disappointed as his main goal was to take the yellow yesterday.

OPQS rider Gianni Meersman finished 2nd for the second day in a row. In the second stage of the Tour de Wallonie he was beaten by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek), but that was enough to take over the overall lead.

Just as in the first stage the day`s breakaway animated a large part of the stage. The opened up a maximum lead of 7 minutes and 45 seconds. The peloton didn`t panic and closed the gap slowly. With 18 kilometres to go all was back together just before the final intermediate sprint, which was won by Meersman.

In the final sprint Nizzolo outsprinted Meersman, who finished 2nd just like yesterday. After the stage Meersman was rewarded with the yellow leaders jersey.

"I'm not really disappointed to finish second in the sprint for the stage win," he told Directvelo. "The yellow jersey is now on my shoulders. It was a goal. I did the last intermediate sprint with this purpose. 

"My team hopes to win the Tour de Wallonie. With riders of the calibre of Stybar, we have many cards to play. Today, everything worked out for us."