Having had a hard time since he abandoned the Tour de France, Danny Van Poppel returned to the podium when he sprinted to third in the GP Jef Scherens. The Dutchman was pleased to finally achieve a good result.

Trek Factory Racing kicked off a series of one-day races in Belgium this week with the third place of Danny van Poppel in a tough circuit race around Leuven.  André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) won the 183-kilometer race, ahead of Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) in second.

The Grand Prix Jef Scherens was held on a 14-kilometer loop that the riders navigated 13 times with four short but sharp climbs each lap.

The race was pegged to end with a bunch sprint, but in racing there is always the chance a breakaway could ride to the end. So when a 14-man breakaway formed soon after the flag had dropped, Trek Factory Racing had two representatives:  Markel Irizar and stagiaire Clément Chevrier were part of the escape group that stayed out front for nearly 140 kilometers.

“It was clear that it could be a bunch sprint but you never know, when you see the composition of the other teams - everyone is here to win," sports director Dirk Demol said. "Greipel is now in the lead with the most victories of the season, so for sure they were going to help him win with that in mind.

"We had an early breakaway and Markel and Clément were there, that was good, they were there for 140 kilometer in front. Then a group came across with Greipel, and some others, and also Danny was in that group. But with 25 kilometers to go it was all-together and Lotto took things in hand and it was a sprint finish.”

Danny van Poppel paid back the cohesive teamwork - noteably at the end when the team chased down numerous late attacks - with a podium finish. The 21-year-old continues to show his aptitude in the sprints; beating Greipel was a tall order, and the young Dutch sprinter was happy to be close to the German, who now leads all riders with 15 victories this year.

“It was not just a sprint today – the loop was super hard with the climbs," he said. " We had two guys in the front and then we waited to the finale. There was an attack with 6 strong guys and I was in this group of six with Greipel. But Greipel did not want to work with us so the peloton came back. Then for the sprint the team did a great job to bring everything together, and after I was in a good wheel, that of Van Asbroeck. I am really happy with my sprint because this was a really hard race.

"There were 7 or 8 riders out front near the end and Markel, Fumy, Boy and Calvin were there to help Lotto pull this back. The whole team was awesome all day - they did a great job. I am happy after the Tour [de France] to finally get another good result – it has been a long time ago for me.”

Director Dirk Demol echoed Van Poppel’s words, praising the young team’s effort and happy with the podium showing at the end of a tough day of racing:

“The team was again good – we had a young team here with a few that have no experience in these types of races. It was not an easy race with the four short climbs each lap. At the end Danny was a little bit by himself and that is never easy. We missed have the experience for the lead-out, but the team was organized all day.  He was very close to the second place, and he made the podium, which is very nice for the team. He was disappointed last week that he couldn’t do what he wanted to do for Giaco [Nizzolo], so this is a good result for him.