With a handful of podium places and a fine 2th place in the teams classification, Roompot Orange Peloton can look back with satisfaction on the Baloise Belgium Tour. Huub Duijn finished 9th in the final standings that was won by Greg van Avermaet. "Every day we participated in the finales of the stages," sports director Erik Breukink noted. "Of course there are things that could have been better, but I look back positively at this difficult stage race."
After 21st place for Berden de Vries in the prologue in Bornem, Dylan Groenewegen was again in the spotlight in the stage with finish in Knokke-Heist. The 21-year-old neo.pro finished 5th amongst the fast men and just behind stage winner Tom Boonen. "That was a good performance by Dylan," said team manager Breukink, "But also the fact that he, as one of the few sprinters, got through the difficult final stage in the Ardennes says something about his character."
After a 6th place for Raymond Kreder in the stage with Berendries, Valkenberg and Paddestraat (won by Arnaud Démare) and a 14th place for Dylan Groenewegen in the penultimate stage around Les Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (again won by Demare), it was a small edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège yesterday. Here Marc de Maar, Maurits Lammertink and Huub Duiin did well. The latter was good to join a big front group from the start in St. Vith and never disappeared from the front.
"It was nice to see that the three guys that I hoped for on this course including Cote de Wanne, Stockeu and Haute-Levee, could be there. Van Avermaet is of course at another level, but our guys showed yet again that our team can also give color to these races. The 2nd place in the teams classification (behind BMC) is not a real achievement, but underlines that we did well."
In the final stage Duijn was 11th, De Maart 15th and Lammertink 20th . With this trio and Berden de Vries, four Roompot Orange Peloton riders finished in the top 30 of the final ranking.
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