Dylan Groenewegen finished ninth in the Scheldeprijs today in Schoten, in Antwerp’s suberbs. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter was supported well by his team-mates during the preparations for the final kick, but lost Robert Wagner’s wheel with 1.8 kilometres to go. Marcel Kittel (Etixx - Quick Step) won.

“We delivered a strong race, but didn’t grab the result we wanted,” Sports Director Jan Boven said. “We took control during the day and we knew that it was going to be important to be in the right position all the time. That went as we planned. We had to be the first riders entering the final two kilometres. It was a big fight, but Tom Van Asbroeck and Robert Wagner came out of it perfectly. Dylan Groenewegen had to let someone in the space in front of him, so he lost positions afterwards.”

Too far
Groenewegen gave everything to come back in Wagner’s slipstream afterwards. “Just before the penultimate turn, I found his wheel again, but I slipped away a little bit during the final turn,” Groenewegen explained. “That’s why I ended up around 20th in the peloton. That was way too far back. I lost it myself today because the team delivered a strong performance. We showed to have one of the best sprint lead-outs in a very strong field of competitors.”