Cees Bol takes the win in Wanzeel Koerse
07/03/2018
Today’s Wanzeel Koerse featured the first kermesse of the season. The race presented a flat 10,3 kilometers long lap that the riders had to tackle a total of 16 times. The race went off to a fast start and after several attacks it was a group of three riders the one that made it up the road, including our Julius van den Berg. The leading trio stood upfront for more than 50 kilometers before being brought back by the main group after eight laps.
Once the race was back together, the aggressiveness of our riders put them in a front position when a group an 11-man group broke away with four Academy riders in it. They were allowed up to 45 seconds before the bunch picked up the pace and started to cut down the gap. The main group remained together for the last part of the race, heading into the last two laps of the day.
Before entering to the sixteenth and final lap of the day, Cees Bol was made it to the front cut alongside 15 other riders, but they were quickly brought back. It was then, with 13 km to go, that our strong Dutch rider attacked again and remained solo in front all the way to the finish line. Back in the main group, our riders controlled the situation and followed all the attacks in order to secure our first win of the season.
It is great to see the 23-year old Dutchman winning again after a challenging 2017 where he had to sit out for most of the year due to a concussion suffered in early March. The 2016 Olympia’s Tour winner was in Greece for one month and a half this winter in order to ultimate his condition for the season and the efforts and sacrifices are paying off already.
Today’s winner, Cees Bol:
“The plan was to make today’s race a hard one. Work as a team to try to make a split in the group and following attack. I was felt good throughout the race and with 15 km to go I joined a group of around 10 or 15 riders but there was no cooperation, so I went again alone hoping that someone would jump across. The lead kept growing and I was feeling strong, so I gave my all and tried to make it to the line and it worked. I want to give special thanks to my teammates that did an awesome job all day long and specially in the final following attacks and blocking the bunch so I could stay upfront”.
Once the race was back together, the aggressiveness of our riders put them in a front position when a group an 11-man group broke away with four Academy riders in it. They were allowed up to 45 seconds before the bunch picked up the pace and started to cut down the gap. The main group remained together for the last part of the race, heading into the last two laps of the day.
Before entering to the sixteenth and final lap of the day, Cees Bol was made it to the front cut alongside 15 other riders, but they were quickly brought back. It was then, with 13 km to go, that our strong Dutch rider attacked again and remained solo in front all the way to the finish line. Back in the main group, our riders controlled the situation and followed all the attacks in order to secure our first win of the season.
It is great to see the 23-year old Dutchman winning again after a challenging 2017 where he had to sit out for most of the year due to a concussion suffered in early March. The 2016 Olympia’s Tour winner was in Greece for one month and a half this winter in order to ultimate his condition for the season and the efforts and sacrifices are paying off already.
Today’s winner, Cees Bol:
“The plan was to make today’s race a hard one. Work as a team to try to make a split in the group and following attack. I was felt good throughout the race and with 15 km to go I joined a group of around 10 or 15 riders but there was no cooperation, so I went again alone hoping that someone would jump across. The lead kept growing and I was feeling strong, so I gave my all and tried to make it to the line and it worked. I want to give special thanks to my teammates that did an awesome job all day long and specially in the final following attacks and blocking the bunch so I could stay upfront”.