Besides Kooij, Mick van Dijke also did not start today, due to yesterday's crash. Because of Kooij's departure, Dekker was the designated rider to contest the bunch sprint after a difficult period.

The Dutchman was happy to sprint for victory once again. "I've had a lot of setbacks recently. I'm happy to finally be able to sprint for the victory again. It's a relief."

Dekker also thanked his teammates for their work. "It was rainy all day, but everything went smoothly. We have only four riders left, so we had to be careful with our resources. In the final, we made our move at the planned moment and it went well, thanks to Owen, Loe and Tim."

Sports director Robert Wagner was proud of his four riders. "After yesterday, we had to recover. We made new plans with the four remaining guys. We expected a bunch sprint, so we went all out for David's chances. We had a good plan going into the final and the guys executed that plan perfectly."

Wagner saw chances for Dekker in tomorrow's stage as well. "Today was already a nice boost for David. After a more difficult period, he was back in the final. We are full of motivation and we will ride like today."