Cycling news - Dylan Groenewegen wins again in Wallonia to take points jersey lead
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Published 23/07/2021 at 18:11 GMT
Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to victory in stage four of the Tour of Wallonia on Friday. The Dutchman has the yellow jersey as he holds the lead in the points classification with one stage remaining, while Quinn Simmons leads the general classification.
Dylan Groenewegen of Netherlands and Team Jumbo - Visma celebrates at arrival during the 42nd Tour de Wallonie 2021, Stage 4 206km stage from Neufchâteau to Fleurus
Image credit: Getty Images
Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to victory in stage four of the Tour of Wallonia on Friday.
The Dutchman had his Jumbo-Visma team to thank for getting him into the front bunch at the end of a 206km stage that saw a tricky climb come just 10km from the line.
But Groenewegen was well-placed as the race’s quickest riders launched for the line, and he held off Florian Senechal – partly due to the Deceuninck-QuickStep man coming unclipped from his pedal – to take his second stage win of the race.
“This is a victory that belongs to the whole team,” Groenewegen said. “It was a tough day. There was a lot of racing. I wouldn’t have thought that I could fight at the front here.
My teammates encouraged me. They showed that they were one hundred percent convinced that I could win here.
“I survived the last climb, also because of the strong work of the team. Just like in the first stage my teammates did a great job. I am very grateful for that.
“The more I race, the stronger the good feeling gets. I am not yet at the top of my game, but I am close to my top shape.”
Sporting director Addy Engels was also full of praise for the team effort.
“The riders made the race hard from start to finish,” he said. “From the start the war was on.
“The team did an excellent job. They made sure Dylan returned to the front after the last climb and they dropped him in ideal position in the last hundreds of meters. Pascal Eenkhoorn also finished in the first group. A great day for us as a team.”
Eenkhoorn goes into Saturday’s fifth and final stage just 23 seconds behind race leader Quinn Simmons in the general classification.
And Groenewegen’s stage win earned him the yellow jersey for the leader of the points classification with one day’s racing remaining.
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