Dylan Groenewegen finished fourth in the first stage of the BinckBank Tour. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s 24-year-old rider just missed the podium in the bunch sprint after a stage of 169,8 kilometres. World champion Peter Sagan took the stage victory.

Dylan Groenewegen was disappointed after he finished fourth. “I was too far behind at the beginning of the bunch sprint”, he stated afterwards. “On the other hand, I missed some speed in the end. We had to sprint against the wind and Sagan was clearly the strongest. For me, I couldn’t achieve more than the fourth place. After the Tour de France I had a busy period which involved a lot of attention from the media and I also participated in many criteriums. I have to gain some rhythm, but I suppose that will be fine soon.”

Team LottoNL-Jumbo relied on Dylan Groenewegen in this flat stage. “It was a stage for sprinters”, sports director Jan Boven explained after the race. “Four riders escaped early, but we controlled the race well with Bram Tankink. It went as planned until the last corner. Groenewegen lost some ground, so he couldn’t sprint as hoped. It was almost perfect, but everything has to be perfect if you want to win the stage.”