Two days ago Paul Martens was beaten by junior world champion Mathieu van der Poel in the uphill sprint at the Ronde van Limburg but despite his initial disappointment, he was full of praise for the young winner. The German jokingly asked his rival to slow down a bit as  the talented Dutchman is expected to win lots of races in the future.

Paul Martens finished second in the Ronde van Limburg. After 200 hilly kilometres around Tongeren, Belgium, the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM sprinter wasn’t able to prevent Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (BKCP-Powerplus) from taking the win through a bunch kick. 

“I think I could have won today, but it was an honest fight and so I can live with this result. Mathieu is a very young rider, but already proved that he can be a big rider in the future,” said Martens. 

“The last 400 hundred metres were slightly uphill, and as I was afraid to get boxed in, I started my sprint early. In the final fifty metres, Mathieu passed me." 
 

Martens praised his team-mates after the race.

“The whole bunch was focussing on us and that didn’t make things any easier, but we have done very well. We made it a hard race. The other teams expected that we would ride for our sprinter Theo Bos, but we surprised them with our move.

"If I come back, I can win this race. If you absolutely want to win, sometimes you think too quickly. In addition, I didn't not want to be get boxed in. Thus I found myself too early in the wind. A rider passed me and he beat me by twenty centimeters. 

"After the finish, I even told him, "You still have so many years ahead of you, could you slow down a bit?" But we have nothing to reproach ourselves. We have borne the brunt of the race with Belkin. The other teams have benefited from our work. I have to thank my teammates for their work. "
 

Lotto-Belisol, the only other major team present in Limburg, didn’t help. The Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM took responsibility and had to do everything on its own, so in the final, Martens was perhaps one man short. 

“But that’s how it is,” said the German. “Everyone was needed to make it a sprint today. It’s a pity that I couldn’t reward the team with a victory. Thirty centimetres made the difference between a good day and a great day.”