Dylan Groenewegen, after one year in the red, white and blue national jersey, leaves the Dutch Championship in Monfertland third. He charged to the finish line, but Raymond Sinkeldam and Wouter Wippert edged him out in the sprint.

"I came here to win, but those two were faster,” a cool-headed Groenewegen explained. "I have to take pleasure in that. I did not consider Sinkeldam, to be honest, but on this arrival and after such a heavy route, he is the right winner. We lost and everyone is baffled, but I’m leaving here looking forward to the Tour de France next week."

Robert Gesink, Koen Bouwman and Bert-Jan Lindeman formed a large lead group early in the 235-kilometre race. Team LottoNL-Jumbo looked good and forced the other teams to work. With only two laps to go, with the pace going high, the groups joined and prepared for the eventual sprint.

"Koen, Bert-Jan and Robert were attentive and attacked early,” Sports Director Jan Boven said after the race. "It was a clear and clever action that gave us control of the race so we could play several tactical cards. In the last circuit, we controlled the group for a sprint with Dylan. It all came down to the sprint, and if you don’t win, it doesn’t work.”

The 2016 champion fell shy of a second consecutive title by a few metres.