For Groenewegen it is his third victory of the season. Earlier this month he already won two stages in the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. The resident of Amsterdam is therefore the first Dutchman to win a World Tour race this year. For Team Jumbo-Visma it is also the third victory of the new cycling season.

The stage was perfectly controlled by the sprinter’s teams including Team Jumbo-Visma. The two riders in the breakaway were reeled in in the final ten kilometres after which Team Jumbo-Visma took the initiative in the last three. In the hectic and nervous final, Groenewegen was well positioned for the sprint by Tony Martin, Jos van Emden, Timo Roosen and Christoph Pfingsten. Groenewegen launched his sprint from behind Sam Bennett and timed his sprint at the right time.

“This is a very good win. I am very pleased”, Groenewegen said. “I beat the world’s best sprinters today. This is a really sweet victory. In the first stage I probably had the fastest sprint of all, but I was not well positioned. That meant I had to come from too far. Today it was a totally different sprint. The boys did a perfect lead-out. It was a hectic final, but everyone really had his share in my stage win. They all went flat-out. We decided to move up to the front in the last three kilometres because of the strong headwind. Christoph (Pfingsten) has the eye to put me in the best position for the sprint. Then I perfectly timed my sprint. I am happy that I was able to finish off the team’s work.”

Grischa Niermann had seen a very strong team. “The intention was to bring Dylan in fifth or sixth position to the final corner. That worked out. This allowed him to time his sprint perfectly. This is a very nice win. The team was very strong. We have two more sprint opportunities this week and we will go all-in to try and win more stages.”