Key footnote from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe highlights how incredibly strong Tim van Dijke was in Tirreno

Tim van Dijke didn’t make it into the top ten of the stage results, but while everyone was talking about the epic duel between Filippo Ganna and Mathieu van der Poel after an ultra-long and soaking wet stage, Van Dijke may have been just as strong. The 24-year-old Dutchman animated the finale on Wednesday—something that, according to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, seemed impossible just 15 kilometers from the finish.

This winter, Van Dijke made the switch from Visma | Lease a Bike to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe alongside his twin brother Mick, and the move has already paid off. He showed strength with a 15th-place finish in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad ("I was quite impressed with myself") and, despite what the results may suggest, his legs felt good in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Strade Bianche. In Tirreno-Adriatico, Van Dijke is looking to fine-tune his form before the real start of the classics season.

On stage 3 of the Italian stage race, Van Dijke made an aggressive move in a tough finale on Wednesday. In the final kilometer, he even briefly got away with his fellow Dutchman from Tudor, Rick Pluimers, but their late attack couldn’t prevent a sprint. Despite 238 kilometers of racing in relentless rain and icy winds, he still had something left in the tank. The timing of his attack seemed perfect, but in the end, Andrea Vendrame took the win in a sprint. Van Dijke finished 13th.

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Van Dijke (third from left) tries to follow Ganna and Van der Poel

Van Dijke seemed out of Tirreno finale due to a flat tire

"I felt really good during Opening Weekend and Strade Bianche, although I had hoped for a bit more from my time trial on day one (43rd place)," Van Dijke told IDLProCycling.com before the start of stage 2. A day later, it became clear why he had such high expectations for himself. "Tim was really strong today," praised Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sports director Enrico Gasparotto. The Italian added an important footnote to emphasize just how good Van Dijke was. "He had a flat tire with 15 kilometers to go, which meant we had to change his wheel, and he had to chase for a long time."

The Dutchman’s chances in the finale seemed over, but with incredible legs, he managed to come back—and soon after, he was casually sitting in Van der Poel’s wheel as the Dutch star tried to reel in Ganna. "Tim only rejoined when we hit the second ramp of the climb, but he still managed to move up and even attempt something in the final kilometers. Maybe, without that flat tire, it could have been even better," Gasparotto speculated, adding a major what if to Van Dijke’s performance.

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Van Dijke and Pluimers follow Van der Poel in pursuit of Ganna

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sees Van Dijke building confidence

Gasparotto concluded: "It was truly an incredible performance by Tim—he can take a lot of confidence from this for the upcoming races." After Tirreno-Adriatico, the core of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s spring classics squad will head to Classic Brugge-De Panne, before taking on the bigger challenges of E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, and, of course, the Van Dijke twins' beloved Paris-Roubaix. The Amstel Gold Race is also on their schedule.

And it’s about time, as Tim and Mick van Dijke endured a long winter. "They haven’t raced much yet—only Opening Weekend, and now Tim is here while Mick is in Paris-Nice. But their talent is undeniable—we’ve known that for a long time. They just need some time to adapt to our structure and new teammates, but that will come naturally with racing. It’s a process, and things are going really well at the moment."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])

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