Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to third place in the Nokere Koerse on Wednesday. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s fast man had to come from far back in the sprint on Nokere Berg, which made it almost impossible to win the race. Timothy Dupont (Veranda’s Willems) grabbed the victory.

Team LottoNL-Jumbo took the hammer in its hands in the final part of the Nokere Koerse. To give sprinter Dylan Groenewegen the chance to win, the Dutch team used some riders already early on in the final to control the peloton.

“We started with only seven riders and after we had to take control, there weren’t many men left for the sprint lead-out,” Groenewegen said after the race. He was on his own during the final kilometres, so he had to prepare the spring by himself. “I came from the 40th position. That was too far from behind to win the race. I can only blame myself for that. This finish wasn’t my cup, as well. I prefer sprints at a high pace. This third place was the best I could do in this sprint, even if I wanted to win this race.”

Control

“With Dylan, we had the race’s favourite in our team,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman added. “I think that we handled that well as a team. There was a lot of wind and so it was possible that the peloton would break apart into echelons. We kept control and made sure that the race would end up in a bunch sprint. The team spent a lot energy on that part. We were aggressive and sharp.”

Key point

Groenewegen’s own mistake resulted in the missed opportunity. “The turn to the right, with 2.5 kilometres to go was a key point,” Zeeman said. “Dylan gave another rider too much space there so he lost Robert Wagner’s wheel. Robert was going to lead him out and he was strong enough to accomplish that. They were trying to find each other afterwards so Dylan could regain his position, but they failed. Still it’s great that Dylan was able to make up so many positions to finish third. That didn’t initially look possible.”