A lone leader got a maximum lead of one minute but was reeled in by the pursuers and Team Jumbo-Visma took control. With the ladies in yellow and black leading the way, Markus was kept in a good position. At twenty kilometres from the finish, one rider tried to escape, but the attempt was also unsuccessful. As a result, a bunch sprint in Bakkeveen was inevitable.

Team leader Lieselot Decroix praised her team’s fighting spirit. “It was a nice race. We wanted to use the strength of our team and we proved to be powerful. Wherever echelons were possible, we tried to do so and make it a tough race. We executed our plan well. We will now make a new plan to try to take the lead in the general classification tomorrow.”

Then the final stage in the Bloeizone Fryslân Tour is on the programme. “There won’t be a lot of wind tomorrow, but the course goes from narrow to wide and back. We’re going to come up with a plan to get the most out of it”, Decroix said.