Daan Hoole points out organizational mishap at European Championship: "It is unfortunate that this is not possible in Belgium"

Fourth and fifth was the most the Netherlands could achieve at the European Time Trial Championships in Belgian Limburg. Daan Hoole came just out of reach of the podium, but for the fast rider, fourth place was a welcome boost heading into Sunday's road race. IDLProCycling.com spoke to him after the title trial in Hasselt.

Hoole fell hard two weeks ago in the Renewi Tour, where he did not finish the first stage. Thus, being only seven seconds short of approaching Mattia Cattaneo's third place at the European Championships could be considered a solid performance.

"I gave everything. It's a shame, of course, but it's a pretty fair race," he stated realistically. "Then I should have just pushed harder. It went pretty well, and I had a great start. On the technical part, it didn't go super, but after that, I could maintain my momentum and position. That I am so close to the podium is a pity now. It was a good chance for a medal, but unfortunately, it didn't work out."

By that, Hoole refers to the absence of Filippo Ganna, Joshua Tarling, Remco Evenepoel, and Wout van Aert, among others. "If you look at the start list, you see an opportunity. But at least ten good cyclists are competing, so it wasn't easy. But, in a time trial, I always try to focus on myself, and then I'll see the result."

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Hoole fell hard in the Renewi Tour

Anyone who saw Hoole down in the Renewi Tour would not think he could be competing for medals at the European Championships in two weeks. "I did fall hard. I was stiff all over my body and had bruised ribs, so it wasn't ideal. I had some question marks, but mostly I was looking forward to it. However, in my mind, I knew I had worked well over the past period, so it had to be possible. I also stuck to my pacing plan; maybe it went better."

"Only the corners maybe didn't go great, but that's where I can improve," said Hoole, who was also critical of the organization of the European Championships. "We could also only do one recon because there was no official recon. That was a shame that you couldn't ride the corners with fences blocked off. And there's just traffic so that you couldn't catch them at speed anyway."

"I thought it was unfortunate that this was not possible in Belgium. That's no excuse, but I find that a bit sad. Last year, it was possible in Drenthe, and normally, some time is available somewhere. There are always many races in Belgium, so you would say it should be possible," the Lidl-Trek rider points out.

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Hoole trained with Kooij and is confident in road race European Championship on Sunday

This European Championship time trial gives confidence heading into Sunday, where Hoole is one of the important helpers in the European Championship selection for the road ride. "Together with Olav Kooij, I had good training sessions. Once, when we stopped at a gas station, I saw him run to the trash can. Then I saw he wasn't running efficiently, but in BEMER, he showed he was in good shape. That will be a nice race on Sunday."

"He won the BEMER Cyclassics, and I am riding a good time trial now, so that did work," the reliable hard rider concluded. "For Sunday, we have a very nice team. Olav is showing that even without top form, he can win a WorldTour classic, and with Mathieu van der Poel, you have someone who is among the best in the world on such a course. We have a great team and will do everything possible to get that jersey. I'm looking forward to it!"