Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) continued his dream start to his first year at the WorldTour level when he added the historic Belgian one-day race Heistse Pijl to his growning palmares. Seemingly out of the battle for the win, the Dutchman bridged across to a strong breakaway on the final climb with less than 2km to go and then benefited from a perfect lead-out to beat Wouter Wippert (Cannondale) and Aidis Kruopis (Veranda’s Willems) into the minor podium positions.

We have gathered a few reactions.

Dylan Groenewegen: I won the sprint on a soft tyre

Dylan Groenewegen won the Heistse Pijl. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter beat a small group during the Belgian one-day-race. Team-mates Timo Roosen, Robert Wagner and Tom Van Asbroeck escaped in a group that lasted until 1.5 kilometres to go.

“I was led out by the team to the foot of the final climb, so I was able to bridge to the first group,” Dylan Groenewegen said. “I came through the final turn in fourth position and started to sprint with 250 metres to go. It’s great to reward my team-mates' aggressive style of racing like this. It was a tough race with a cobbled climb that hurt. Because we had three in the leading group, the rest of the team was able to save energy.”

Team LottoNL-Jumbo was visible before that final kick as well. Paul Martens and Maarten Wynants rode aggressively during the first part of the race and Sep Vanmarcke was part of a breakaway of six riders early on. In the final part of the race, a leading group of 13 riders formed with Timo Roosen, Robert Wagner and Tom Van Asbroeck. They were caught on the final climb of the day.

“Sometimes everything goes to plan,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven said. “Today, that was the story. We were part of every breakaway. Our first plan was to sprint with Dylan, but if that final breakaway was able to stay in front, Tom Van Asbroeck could have done it. Dylan saved his energy, during the whole race and was led out to the foot of that final climb eventually. That’s why he was able to finish it off. With only 1.5 kilometres to go, he noticed that his tyre was slowly getting soft, but he was able to reach the finish with it. A few minutes after the race, his tyre was flat. We were lucky.”

“With four kilometres to go, I hit a hole in the road quite hard,” Groenewegen explained. “I felt that my tyre was soft in the final 1.5 kilometres, but not too much to affect my sprint.

"It's a beautiful victory. We were constantly in the escape with several riders. On the last hill, we finally got back and I immediately got to the front. I sprinted with a flat tire, but it was just hard enough. It was nice to get back to winning.

"In the Handzame Classic, the second round of the Belgian Cycling Cup, I finished second. That sucks. Now I made it, with the bonus of having the leadership in this series.” 

Wouter Wippert: I would have won if I hadn’t been in the break

Wouter Wippert sprinted to second behind Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto Jumbo) at Heiste Pijl today.

He says: "The pressure was on from 30km to the line. I was the only one in the front group, and there were some teams with three, so we had to a lot chasing. Unfortunately the bunch came back with 1km with Dylan in it, and he was still fresh. I could follow but not pass him. It's kind of disappointing to get second again, especially after all the work I had done in the last two laps. On the other hand, I'm happy that my legs were good again. Now on to ZLM.

"I'd been on the top step of the podium if I hadn’t been in the group with three riders from Etixx-QuickStep and three riders from the Belgian and Dutch Lotto teams. They attacked in turns so I always had to follow. Those efforts cost me in the sprint. On the last climb I suddenly saw an orange rider pass me. I looked around and saw that it was a part of the peloton that arrived. Groenewegen was clearly the fastest on the finishing straight. I had been in the leading group for four laps and I had used most of my energy.” 

Aidis Kruopis back on the podium at a major race in Belgium

Verandas Willems were active as they had Aidis Kruopis in third and Dries De Bondt in eighth.

In the first breakaway of the day, Verandas Willems was represented by two riders: Stef Van Zummeren and Elias Breussegem. In the 14-rider group in the finale, they had De Bondt.

"I felt very strong today. I moved along with the riders of Etixx-QuickStep, Lotto-Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo. Then I got to the last lap to try to save as much as possible according to team orders. I countered all that mattered. Unfortunately I did not dare to attack on the final climb. Gaviria exploded but De Bie was in my wheel. Today more was possible if I had shown more guts but I am generally satisfied," said De Bondt.

In the final lap, Verandas Willems also defended the chances of former winner Aidis Kruopis. Led by Tim De Troyer, the team reduced the gap and Kruopis bridged across

"I was in the second group and had to give everything to close the gap. I got back on the climb and after the descent I was tenth. I had to start my sprint early. It was a very hard race, especially the last two kilometers. The team rode a good race. They dropped me off in a good position.”

Lotto Soudal aggression unrewarded in Heistse Pijl

Lotto Soudal participated in the Heistse Pijl today and the riders were determined to show something. Tiesj Benoot, Sean De Bie and Jürgen Roelandts were part of a front group of thirteen in the finale. Once the cooperation had gone, one rider after another attacked. In the last of eight laps Veranda’s Willems closed the gap. At that point the route went uphil. In the last kilometre Sean De Bie took the lead, but winning was impossible. He got fifth. Tiesj Benoot was eighth.

Difficult day for Roompot at Heistse Pijl

Michel Kreder was 11th and the best-placed rider from Roompot.

Early after the start in Turnhout, a leading group of six riders was formed. Nick van der Lijke was there for Roompot. However, the team missed the boat when 14 riders attacked in the finale.

Partly thanks strong work from Barry Markus and Ivar Slik, the peloton reduced the gap and Kreder could bridge across to take 11th. His brother Raymond had to settle for 21st.

Fernando Gaviria gains confidence for Tour de Suisse at Heistse Pijl

It took more than an hour for a break to take shape at the 46th edition of Heistse Pijl, and when that happened, Tom Boonen was there for Etixx-QuickStep, together with Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice), Elias Van Breussegem (Verandas Willems), Nick Van Der Lijke (Roompot Oranje), Stef Van Zummeren (Verandas Willems) and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo). The group of the two-time winner opened a maximum gap of 1:30, which helped them stay at the front until the last 70 kilometers, when they were reabsorbed by the peloton led by LottoNL-Jumbo and Topsport Vlaanderen.

Once the riders became familiar with the 17.5-km long circuit which they had to cover eight times, more attacks followed, with Heistse Berg (450 meters, 5.1% average) being used as launchpad, and one of them saw no less than 14 men establish a gap of 30 seconds. Fernando Gaviria, Yves Lampaert and Nikolas Maes were among the escapees who were trying to give the slip to the bunch, and the riders worked together until the final 10 kilometers, when a plethora of attacks led to the advantage dropping.

First to make a move was Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal), whose action was closed almost immediately by Maes, an action followed by the one of Sean De Bie (Lotto-Soudal) and Dries De Bondt (Verandas Willems), who was soon countered by Lampaer, the Gullegem Koerse runner-up. Unfortunately for the breakaway, the peloton – which was always on their heels – made contact right under the flamme rouge, and the race concluded with a chaotic bunch sprint, won by Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), ahead of Wouter Wippert (Cannondale) and Aidis Kruopis (Verandas Willems).

Right after the finish, sport director Wilfried Peeters made a short analysis of Heistse Pijl, which saw Julien Vermote come 12th, Etixx – Quick-Step's best result on the day:

"We made the race and were all the time in the thick of the action, but unfortunately things didn't pan out as we had hoped. Despite that, we can take many positives from this race, one of which is that Fernando is on the right track following the injury which sidelined him in the spring, and this makes us confident for the Tour de Suisse."