Twan Castelijns finished second in a two-up sprint with Jan-Willem van Schip in the Tour of Drenthe today in Hoogeveen. LottoNL-Jumbo’s Amund Grondahl Jansen and Steven Lammertink placed 13th and 14th.

Castelijns and Van Ship formed part of the early breakaway, which originally consisted three men. Julius van den Berg dropped out with ten kilometres to go. The race was hard due toseveral climbs of the VAM-berg and some cobbled sections. Eventually, the two escapeesraced into town, where, Van Ship won the sprint.

Castelijns thought he would take home the victory, but just before the line, he was overtaken by Van Ship. 

“It was a perfect move for Twan to go in because that way the pressure of the race was not on our shoulders,” said Sports Director Grischa Niermann.  

“We were very attentive, but unfortunately, we were not in a group of six that rode off after the last VAM-berg. Lindeman had to change bikes just before the last climb. He was perhaps the strongest man in the race.''

At four kilometers from the end, Niermann saw that Castelijns could sprint for victory. 

“We were still represented by five men in the group and the other teams were slowly exhausting. So it is a pity that Twan was barely beaten, but Van Schip is also a strong rider. It's nice for Twan to have ridden in that winning position and hopefully he turns this disappointment into something positive in the coming races.’’