Ster ZLM Toer – Vegard Stake Laengen «I believed in the victory» –

THE FACT OF THE DAY

Vegard Stake Laengen’s show of force. Full of strength, the Norwegian rider broke away from his breakaway companions with 36 kilometers to go to the finish. They were able to catch back up to him only after he had already passed under the flamme rouge. “I escaped from the start with nine other riders,” Stake Laengen explained. “After we had covered a good chunk of kilometers, collaboration became difficult within the group. So I attacked several times, and I ended up being alone. I gave everything I had. And I sincerely believed I could get the victory. The last two kilometers were atrocious. I pushed as hard as possible on the pedals, but I lacked the strength to stay away after such a long solo raid. At the foot of the Gileppe, my advantage was not enough to stay away until the finish line. That’s too bad. But honestly, I preferred to race this way than try to spend the day in the bunch.”

THE SATISFACTION

Of Kjell Carlström: “It was like a mini Liège-Bastogne-Liège,” the Finnish directeur sportif said. “Vegard was very strong. He did a great job and had a great race. The final climb of Gileppe is very technical. One kilometer, the road is narrow and the gradient averages around 9%. The peloton was too close to Vegard, unfortunately. I also want to acknowledge the wonderful work that Simon Pellaud, Pirmin Lang, and Leigh Howard did. There were a great help when protecting Roger Kluge. Hat’s off to all of them.”

THE PLACING

Of Roger Kluge. Having taken 21st place in the queen stage, just 22 seconds behind the stage winner Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto NL Jumbo), the German sprinter remained in the top-10 in the overall classification, sitting comfortably in 7th place, 30 seconds behind the overall leader.

THE ABANDONMENT

Of Jonas Van Genechten. The Belgian rider, who has been suffering from headaches resulting from a sinus infection, left the ZLM race Saturday. Consequently, the sports management and the medical staff will decide the date of his return to competition.

Pictures – BettiniPhoto