Yellow-black Jumbo-Visma falls short in Arnhem: "We came here to win a title..."

On Sunday, Visma | Lease a Bike started three times with championship ambitions at the Dutch National Road Race Championships in Arnhem. The Dutch team ultimately returned to the service course in 's-Hertogenbosch with just one medal – the silver medal of Olav Kooij in the men's race. And so it was that yellow-black seemed somewhat doomed in the Dutch city on Sunday.

In the U23 race won by Tibor del Grosso, Jesse Kramer was the best rider for the team, finishing in twelfth place. Visma | Lease a Bike's U23 men raced aggressively but came up empty-handed. "Our tactic was to attack in turns from seventy kilometres," Menno Huising explained on behalf of the team.

"Tijmen rode two laps ahead and then we tried to get away with the right group. Unfortunately, the lap proved just not tough enough to get away. There were always guys who could close the gap. As a team, we did well. We did what we had to do and everyone contributed. Of course we are disappointed, because we would have really liked to win here, but we did everything we could."

In the women's race won by Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Femke de Vries and Sophie von Berswordt ensured a good race, but sixth place was the best they could achieve. Former champions Riejanne Markus and Marianne Vos were unable to make their mark. "There was a lot of jumping around and then you have to play the game, especially when you're riding with such a large group. Unfortunately, it didn't work out well, but it could have gone the other way," Markus reacted afterward.

Visma | Lease a Bike unable to finish the race in elite men's category

As for the elite men, Visma | Lease a Bike had to rely on smart tactics as it had 'only' seven riders. Many riders followed the wheels of the yellow-black team, which nonetheless rode at the front line all day. Bart Lemmen and Tim van Dijke particularly showed their attacking spirits, but ultimately, when it came to the real finale, the team went for it with Kooij.

The Dutchman was reasonably far behind coming out of the last corner and therefore had to watch in disappointment as Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) sprinted away from the competition, following which he managed to pass some other men to secure second place. But that was obviously not what Kooij had traveled to Arnhem for.

"Dylan took off quite early and immediately gained a few lengths, so I felt I could not catch up. His move surprised me a bit because I wanted to come from behind as no one really had a lead-out anymore. The sprint started quite early, but it is also a matter of having the legs," he told NOS.

"I am disappointed. We came here to win a title and tried in various ways," he continued. "We certainly didn't have a bad race," was the justified conclusion of the Visma | Lease a Bike leader.