A big crash in the final km took down Ramon Sinkeldam and therewith the team’s ambitions to do a good sprint. Fortunately Sinkeldam and the rest of the team came out safe ahead of Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. 

With Ramon Sinkeldam and Nikias Arndt the team was up and running for a bunch sprint at today’s Scheldeprijs. With 20km to go Arndt faced mechanical problems and was unable to return in the front.

By entering the last km, a big crash took down a large portion of the bunch including Sinkeldam , as only 20 riders were able to pass. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was among those and continued his winning streak with his third win of the week.

After the race an unharmed Sinkeldam said: “In the last km the pace went down slightly and the crash happened, luckily we got away safely.

“Of course relieved to overcome a crash like this without fractures or other injuries. On the other hand, it was a missed opportunity to take the battle against the nice sprinters that were out here today.”

Lars van der Haar on the first race of his road season: “My day was pretty good, only had to overcome a few difficult moments. I was involved in a small crash but without damage. Happy to have the first race in my legs again. From now I continue to work towards my next race in Yorkshire (UK).”

Coach Rudi Kemna added: “The plan was to do the sprint with Ramon and to race with high concentration and focus. It was a great opportunity to test the lead-out again, which went well until 700m before the line. The crash happened at 20th position. Normally that is too far.”