Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) continued his dream start to his WorldTour career by winning the 100th edition of Rund um Köln just a week after he won the Heistse Pijl. After a big battle between the Lotto Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo trains, he beat local hero André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) who had launched the sprint, with Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) making it two German riders on the podium.

 

We have gathered a few reactions

 

Groenewegen: It’s nice to have a photo with me next to Greipel on the podium

LottoNL-Jumbo Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to win the 100th edition of Rund um Köln today in Germany. After 205.8 kilometres, he topped Germans André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin).

 

After the peloton caught the early break, American Taylor Phinney tried to escape in the final. LottoNL-Jumbo and Lotto-Soudal worked for a bunch sprint, and Groenewegen was put perfect in position by his team-mates and won by a bike length.

 

"It was a great day for me, and for the team,” Groenewegen said. "Such sprints give you a lot of confidence, we worked hard on the lead-out train. At six kilometres to go, we began the lead-out and in the last hundred metres, I went all out. I was put into place perfectly. The sprint was actually perfect, this is something that we worked on all year, to deliver these sprints. We have great photo now, with me next to Greipel on the podium."

 

“Like last week in Belgium, this was one of those days were everything went according to plan,” said Sports Director Nico Verhoeven. "In the last metres, the team put Dylan perfect in position so could begin his sprint ideally. Then beating Greipel, that’s absolutely beautiful.”

 

Early in the race, a break-away went with not one LottoNL-Jumbo rider involved. That was according to plan.

 

"As soon as you send a rider to join, the other teams will do the same and you get a very different situation,” Verhoeven added. “When the group was away, we knew it was going to be a controlled race."

The difference to the leaders never went more than four minutes. "We did not lead the chase always, but we had a rider in front of the peloton at all times."

 

André Greipel hits out at Renshaw after Köln disappointment

"Less than 300 meters from the finish I was well placed on Groenewegen’s wheel,” André Greipel told radsport-news.com. “Then Renshaw came and pushed me out of that position. That was not correct. He knew that he couldn’t win and then he does something like that…”

 

Nikias Arndt: Rund um Köln was not hard enough

Nikias Arndt took an impressive 3rd place after good teamwork from his teammates.

 

Arndt said: “The race was really under control with Lotto Soudal setting the pace as they wanted to set up the sprint for Greipel. Therefore, we adapted to the race situation and we stuck to our plan to prepare the sprint for me. In the end, the race turned out to be easier than expected because the breakaway was not very strong.

 

“We knew this was to the advantage of Lotto Soudal, so we decided to make the race harder for them. This worked out quite well with a few attacks from us. Towards the sprint all the guys did a great job and were always in position. The team was very motivated to aim for the victory today and they managed to do a great lead-out.”

 

Coach Dirk Reuling added: “The goal was to sprint with Nikias. There was an early break of six riders but no dangerous riders were part of it. Therefore, the race was very straightforward and always under control from the peloton.

 

“In the bunch, our riders worked well together and we were always at the front in the key moments of the race. In the sprint, Nikias was dropped in the wheel of Greipel by Bert [De Backer] but he wasn’t strong enough to come over Greipel and Groenewegen and he sprinted to a nice 3rd place.”

 

Kristian Sbaragli shows his form in Köln

Kristian Sbaragli and Mark Renshaw came home in 4th and 5th positions to add another great result to Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s palmarès today.

 

Kristian Sbaragli said:

“Lotto-Soudal controlled the race, so we didn’t need to go hard until the final kilometers. I had good sensations but with strong sprinters like Groenewegen, Greipel and Arndt still in the mix it was always going to be tough.”

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega added:

“Rund um Köln is a rather unpredictable race. Sometimes there’s a lot of action all the way through. However, this year it was different. Lotto-Soudal controlled the race from the start, and received help from teams like LottoNL-Jumbo later. They allowed the break a gap that was easy to control. Coming into the finale Mark was leading out Kristian. But on this flat run-in it was hard to get the better of Groenewegen, Greipel and Arndt. All in all I think we showed a solid performance with two riders finishing inside the top5.”

 

Gerald Ciolek shows good form on home roads in Köln

The anniversary edition came down to a sprint where local hero Gerald Ciolek finished in 6th place.

 

After the sprint, Gerald Ciolek was self-critical: “We had a good race, but I think the result could have been even better. I may have lacked a little bit in the sprint. But the team did a good job and put our pre-race plan into work.”

 

Sports Director Jochen Hahn said: “With the break up the road, the sprinters’ teams took a stranglehold of the race. We could have tried to make it a hard race, but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference all on our own. We can be satisfied with a 6th place in this field; we were only beaten by WorldTour teams.”

 

For Ciolek, the race in well-known surroundings was a unique experience: “It’s always nice to race at home. Cologne is a very special city, so it’s twice as great to be cheered on by the spectators along the route.”

 

Phil Bauhaus in the top 10 on home soil in Köln

BORA – ARGON 18 supported Phil Bauhaus in the final. Bauhaus already won a race this year and seemed to be in good shape again. With Christoph Pfingsten, Scott Thwaites and Rudi Selig he had 3 lead-out men at his side. But the BORA – ARGON 18 train got lost in the final kilometres. Bauhaus could not start his sprint from an optimal position. He finished 8th, which still is a good result.

 

“We tried to make the race hard half way through the race, but the big teams were focused on a sprint, therefore we could not do a lot. In the end we supported Phil, but he did not have the perfect position. Still the 8th place is a solid result for the team and Phil,” said André Schulze, sports director.

 

Another top 10 result for Steele von Hoff in Köln

3km into the race and 2 riders clipped off the front quickly gaining 30 seconds on the bunch. Not wasting any time ONE’s Sam Williams and two other riders took their opportunity and in a gutsy move, left the front of the peloton in a bid to join the leaders. Heads down and working hard they managed to bridge across, shortly followed by 1 more lone chaser creating a strong group of 6 in the breakaway, all before the 10km mark.

 

ONE Pro Cycling were positioned really well as the race route took the bunch through a mixture of wide sweeping roads and narrow lanes.

 

While Sam Williams was working hard in the break, his teammates were getting tangled up with various problems. Steele Von Hoff suffered a double puncture on a really tricky section, Sebastian Lander had a mechanical issue and required a bike change a Hayden McCormick (not wanting to miss out) also required a wheel change absorbing vital energy fighting his way back onto the bunch.

 

Williams remained in the breakaway group as it started to split under the pressure with only 25km to go. As 2 leaders tried to surge forward, 3 of the leaders dropped back and eventually with 10km to go they were all swallowed up by the intense pace set by the peloton.

 

Sam Williams might have been caught by the peloton but after working tirelessly in the break all day, Williams didn’t’ hesitate to move to the front of the bunch, putting in a solid effort for the team.

 

In the closing stages of the race the pace continued to increase as the team continued to protect Steele Von Hoff. Jostling for position the aim was to deliver Von Hoff into a position where he could sprint for the line.

 

As they approached the finishing circuit, Lotto Jumbo increased the pace once more. Going into the final lap, Von Hoff was sitting in 15th position with 800m to go. Picking his lines carefully in the surge to the finish he managed to fight his way through the bunch kick taking 10th position on the line.

 

Aggressive BMC tactic doesn’t pay off in Köln

In Germany, a group of five riders made an attack early into the 205.8km race, riding out in from for the majority of the day.

 

With 50 kilometers to go Manuel Senni attacked off the front of the peloton to join the breakaway, before launching a second attack alongside another rider.

 

When they were caught inside 10 kilometers to go, Taylor Phinney made a gutsy solo effort but the stage eventually was won by Dylan Groenewegen (Team LottoNL - Jumbo) after a bunch sprint.

 

Rick Zabel looked strong in the final sprint and crossed the line 13th on home soil.

 

Sport Director Allan Peiper said: “A group of five riders got away right at the start and extended a maximum advantage of around four minutes. When the peloton regrouped, Senni attacked off the front and there was also strong efforts from Taylor inside the final eight kilometers and Rick in the sprint. It was not the result that we we came here looking for but the guys were in the action for most of day, so we can take positives away from that.”

 

Rick Zabel said: “I felt good today! It’s good to race on home soil, it always adds a little bit extra motivation to go out and ride the best that I can and try to challenge for the win. I think all of the team did a great job today, we definitely gave it 100 percent, even if the result today was not what we wanted.”