Groenewegen’s win was the 15th for Team LottoNL-Jumbo this 2017 season. For the Dutchman, it marked his fourth victory. 

“I lost the train for a bit, but they waited for me and dropped me off perfectly,” Groenewegen said. “Winning is always nice, and today, we knew we were in good form. We got another victory, which propels me towards the Tour de France.” 

During the stage Team LottoNL-Jumbo tried to force the bunch into echelons.

 “At a given moment, a group of 14 men, with six of our riders had a gap on the rest. I think we rode a strong race. We controlled from the start to the finish."

“Since last year’s Tour de France, I have become stronger. I feel it and the data from the sprint training shows that as well. Of course, I was a year younger last year. Only the best sprinters are in the Tour de France. But they are also competing here, and today we defeated them.” 

“It was a though day”, Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “It was hot and there was a continuing threat of the wind forming echelons. After a hectic start, a group of six men broke away. Because of that, we could control the race with Twan Castelijn and Gijs Van Hoecke." 

“On the Oesterdam, an echelon with 14 riders formed, with six of our riders in it. That was a good situation. Unfortunately, everything came back together. From that moment, we started thinking about the final. We had a plan this morning and that worked well. Dylan finished it off phenomenally.” 

Last year, Team LottoNL-Jumbo started to develop a sprint train for Groenewegen. Winning a stage during the upcoming Tour de France is one of the main targets. 

“We are preparing towards the Tour de France with this team. We know what we need to do to compete with the big teams in the Tour. We have chosen this race to optimise our sprint train. Everything worked out today as we had planned. That is satisfying.”