After a rainy day, Dylan Groenewegen ended-up fifth in the fourth stage of the BinckBank Tour. His Team LottoNL-Jumbo teammate Lars Boom consolidated his sixth position in the general classification.

The BinckBank Tour came too early for most sprinters who rode the Tour de France. “The guys who didn’t do the Tour de France competed for the victory in this race”, Groenewegen concluded. “My sprint is okay, but my legs aren’t. I still feel the efforts of the Tour de France and the subsequent criteriums. So I wasn’t good enough today. I tried my best, but a victory isn’t possible at the moment. I have to gain some power the coming period.”

Sports director Nico Verhoeven also thought the past Tour de France still influences Groenewegen’s shape. “This was a tough race for Groenewegen”, he stated afterwards. “Everything has to be perfect for a sprinter to be able to win and that isn’t the case at the moment. Groenewegen had to deal with eight difficult stages in the Tour de France. As a result, he couldn’t compete for the victory in the past sprint stages. Last year, Dylan competed in his first Tour de France. He became stronger afterwards and I believe he will become even stronger after the past Tour de France. For the moment, however, Groenewegen still has to recover a bit from his efforts in the Tour de France.”