Dylan Groenewegen crowned a marvelous first season in the WorldTour by taking a maiden Dutch road race championships and ending an 8-year drought for his LottoNL-Jumbo team. After hard work from his teammates, he was in a class of his own in the bunch sprint and easily held off Wouter Wippert (Cannondale) and Wim Stroetinga (Parkhotel Valkenburg).

 

When LottoNL-Jumbo announced the signing of Dylan Groenewegen at the end of last year, it didn’t get much attention in the professional cycling world. By winning Arnhem-Veenendal Classic and Brussels Cycling Classic, the Dutchman had proved his talent but internationally he was not regarded as one of the future top sprinters.

 

However, LottoNL-Jumbo had full confidence in their new signing and built a dedicated lead-out train around their fast sprinter. Groenewegen has paid them back in the most impressive fashion as he has been the sprint revelation of the year, going from success to success since he won his first race in early February.

 

The month of June has been amazing for Groenewegen as he beat the likes of Marcel Kittel and André Greipel in a stage at the Ster ZLM Toer after having already taken victories at the Heistse Pijl and Rund um Köln earlier in the month. The team has even decided to build a sprint train around their fastman at the Tour de France.

 

Hence, it was no surprise that LottoNL-Jumbo backed him fully for today’s Dutch Championships which were held on a completely flat course in Brouwersdam. Groenewegen didn’t disappoint as the broke the long drought for the biggest Dutch team which hadn’t taken home the title since Koes Moerenhout won the jersey in 2008.

 

LottoNL-Jumbo had been riding attentively in the early part of the very fast and aggressive race, joining several moves but it was in the finale that they really focused 100% on their captain. First they rode aggressively with Bram Tankink who countered a move from Giant-Alpecin. Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank), Boy van Poppel (Trek) and Huub Duijn (Roompot) joined the move and as LottoNL-Jumbo slowed down in the peloton, the quartet quickly got a solid advantage.

 

The gap went out to 20 seconds before LottoNL-Jumbo decided that it was all for Groenewegen. The WorldTour team gathered 10 riders on the front and asked Tankink to stop his work in the front group. As a consequence, the gap started to come down.

 

At the start of the final 14.7km lap, the front quartet had a 14-second advantage but LottoNL-Jumbo seemed to have everything under control. They quickly reacted to an attack from Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale).

 

Bert-Jan Lindeman, Steven Lammertink and Moreno Hofland did the work for LottoNL-Jumbo but surprisingly they had a hard time taking back time. In fact, the gap was still 20 seconds as they entered the final 10km.

 

The balance started to tip when Cannondale and Giant-Alpecin also started to work and as a consequence, the gap was only 5 seconds with 5km to go. At this point, Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) who had animated the race earlier, ended his day and was dropped from the field.

 

The attack was doomed as there was no longer any cooperation in the front group. Duijn was the first to attack but it was van der Poel and Van Poppel who ultimately escaped. However, they were quickly passed by Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale) and a continental rider who surged clear from the peloton.

 

Former champion Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) made a final 100% bid for glory as he sprinted past the attackers and quickly got a solid advantage. While he rode hard in the lead, a Roompot rider joined the Slagter group.

 

However, LottoNL-Jumbo were in full control and after the three chasers had been brought back, Ligthart sat up with 1.8km to go. Tom Leezer made the catch for LottoNL-Jumbo and while the sprinters jostled for position, Tankink took over, followed by his teammates Jos van Emden, Timo Roosen and Groenewegen.

 

Van Emden hit the front just before the flamme rouge and started the lead-out but he was unable to keep Lars Boom (Astana) at bay when he sprinted past the LottoNL-Jumbo trio. However, Roosen and Groenewegen reacted quickly to slot into second and third position and then Roosen started his lead-out.

 

Wim Stroetinga (Parkhotel Valkenburg) tried to surprise Groenewegen by launching a long sprint but the favourite reacted immediately and latched onto his wheel. From there, he started his sprint and the outcome was never in doubt. Wouter Wippert could do no more than following his wheel to take second while Stroetinga held off Danny Van Poppel (Sky) to take the final step on the podium.

 

With the national championships over, Groenewegen can set his sights on his Tour de France debut. The next major event in the Netherlands is the Arnhem-Veenendal Classic in August where Groenewegen is the defending champion.

 

A flat course

The 2016 edition of the Dutch Championships was held on a 212.1km course in Brouwersdam. First the riders did one lap of a small 14.7km circuit and then they headed into the flat terrain for one lap of a bigger circuit. The race ended with five laps of the small circuit. There were no real climbs on the menu in one of the flattest editions of the battle for the national crown.

 

It was a sunny morning when the best Dutch riders gathered for the start of the race in Brouwersdam and they would get the battle for the coveted jersey off to an aggressive start. After 49km of constant attacking, no one had managed to escape.

 

12 riders get clear

After a while, Sam Oomen (Giant-Alpecin), Rene Hooghiemster (Baby-Dump), Kobus Hereijgers (De Rijke), Jasper Hamelink (Metec), Peter Schulting (Parkhotel), Nick van der Lijke (Roompot) and Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo) managed to escape but after maintaining a 15-second advantage for a while, they were brought back. That set the scene for new attacks but after 117km of fast racing, everything is back together.

 

The peloton was still intact when they started the first lap of the finishing circuit but moments later a big crash split the field. In the confusion, a group of 12 riders managed to escape. With 60km to go, Ramon Sinkeldam, Albert Timmer (Giant-Alpecin); Luuc Bugter , Daan Meijers, Wouter Mol (De Rijke), Dion Beukeboom (Parkhotel), Martijn Tusveld (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland, Wesley Kreder (Roompot), Martijn Keizer, Mike Teunissen and Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo)had opened an advantage of 45 seconds as the peloton almost came to a standstill.

 

Parkhotel Valkenburg take control

Parkhotel Valkenburg were riding for Wim Stroetinga and were not content with having Beukeboom in the group so they started to chase hard with their big team. As they also got a bit of help from Peter Koning (Drapac), they managed to bring the gap down to 27 seconds at the end of the first lap.

 

With 15 riders in the race, Parkhotel Valkenburg could make a big difference and with 50km to go, they had reduced the gap to only 10 seconds. That prompted Hoogerland to launch an attack from the front group but he didn’t have any luck. Teunissen also tried his luck but he didn’t get a real advantage either.

 

Everything comes back together

Despite the attacking, the gap was relatively stable at around 10 seconds but as the front group failed to cooperate, most of the riders sat. Only an aggressive Tusveld managed to keep it alive as he took with Hofland, Mol and Sinkeldam, and those four riders crossed the finish line to start the third lap with a  small advantage of less than 10 seconds.

 

Parkhotel Valkenburg were still leading the chase and as they continued to approach from behind, only Tusveld decided to press on. However, he also failed to stay clear so everything came back together as they entered the final 40km.

 

Dumoulin in the mix

There were a few unsuccessful attacks before Rick Ottema (Baby-Dump) briefly seemed to have gone clear in a solo move. When he was caught, Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) and Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale) both tried to escape but LottoNL-Jumbo were doing an excellent job to shut everything down.

 

After two continental riders had opened a small advantage, a dangerous group gathered in front. Koen De Kort, Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Wesley Kreder (Roompot), Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal), Tom Leezer, Mike Teunissen and Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo) were all there and they slowly managed to increase their advantage.

 

Dumoulin splits the group in the crosswind

Dumoulin was urging the group to cooperate but he was getting the help he was asking for. Hence, the move failed to stay clear and just as they were caught, a small crash involving Hoogerland and a few more created some chaos in the peloton.

 

As the bunch hit the finishing straight to start the penultimate lap, a De Rijke rider surged clear. He failed to get much of an advantage and instead Dumoulin went to the front to try to split the field in the crosswind. He created a small group with the likes of Ligthart, De Kort, Sinkeldam, both Danny (Sky) and Boy Van Poppel (Trek), Hofland, Lindeman, Langeveld, Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale), Lars Boom (Astana), Mol, Teunissen and himself.

 

A strong quartet

The group was too dangerous and so was soon brought back but the fast pace was taking its toll as lots of riders were getting dropped. There was little change to get back as the aggressive riding continued, with riders like Oomen, Teunissen and Danny Van Poppel riding aggressively.

 

Giant-Alpecin moved to the front with Oomen, Dumoulin and De Kort to try to split the field and when they stopped their effort, it was Bram Tankink (LottoNL-Jumbo) surging clear. Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank), Boy van Poppel (Trek) and Huub Duijn (Roompot) joined the move but in the end, it was all in vain as LottoNL-Jumbo set Groenewegen up for a favourite win.

 

Top 10

1. Dylan Groenewegen 4.31.20

2. Wouter Wippert

3. Wim Stroetinga

4. Danny Van Poppel

5. Barry Markus

6. Raymond Kreder

7. Jeroen Meijers

8. Ramon Sinkeldam

9. Jetse Bol

10. Johim Ariesen