After a great stint at Circuit Wallonie (7th place for Stan van Tricht) and at GP Vermarc (6th for Wessel Krul) we want back to racing mode in Belgium with the Ruddervoorde Pro Kermesse. Our 8-man lineup set off ready to make it count and keep the good streak going. 

The offensive mindset was shown already in the first part as a group of 10 riders went up and the road and Maikel Zijlaard represented our flag there. However, the peloton picked up the pace and brought them back. In the ninth, out of sixteen, lap a new leading group was formed with Wessel Krul in it. What started a 3-man group, was quickly joined by two more riders. The main group kept the pace high, and the bunch broke into pieces eventually, with a large group of 30 riders taking the lead. Heading into the final lap, both groups came together and it became clear that everything would be decided in a bunch sprint. At that point, our riders took the lead of the peloton to put Jesper Rasch in the best possible position. The young Dutchman sprinted to 10th in the day. 

We will be back to racing mood on Monday in the Ronde van Limburg. 

Dries Hollanders, Academy DS: 
“We can be happy with today’s performance as the riders ticked the boxes with what was said at the start. We were present in the important moves of the day and they worked really well together to prepare the final sprint. At the end, we would like to finish higher the tenth, but if you look at the overall picture it was a good day”.