LottoNL-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to win the third stage of the Ster ZLM Toer today in Buchten. Belgians Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems) and Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal) placed second and third after 210 kilometres. De Bie took the leader's jersey from Jos van Eden through time bonus seconds.

 "I was again dropped off perfectly today," said Groenewegen. "It was a relatively easy day, actually. We had the hills in Limburg, but I had always team-mates with me. I only have to keep their wheels in front of me and then start the sprint at the right time. I saved a lot of energy thanks to the team so I still had a good sprint."

"We controlled the race all day after an escape went at 20 kilometres and kept the gap at four minutes,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven said. "When a group of 12 bridged, we had Timo Roosen, Sep Vanmarcke and Robert Wagner – three strong men – in it. After a re-grouping, we controlled it again. With only 10 kilometres left, we closed the gap and it was actually one long lead-out.” 

Trust

"That the team with experienced men are working for me is very nice,” Groenewegen added. “It puts pressure on me, but that’s good for me. And the trust in each other grows after such successful sprints. I only have to focus on our own train and I know that I will be dropped off at the right place. I am pleased that our sprint train gets better each sprint.”

Losing the jersey

Van Emden lost the leader's jersey to De Bie and fell one second back.

“Looking at the bright side, it gives us some rest,” Verhoeven said. “In the past two days, we rode the whole stage in the front and that was tough. We won twice now, but with four men in the top 10, everything is possible.”

Tomorrow should be too tough for Groenewegen to sprint. Groenewegen added, “For the Ardennes, we have guys who are better than me. I want to give something back to them for helping me."