Dries van Gestel wins Profronde van Drenthe

Sunday, 13 March 2022 at 16:02

After the women's race saw Lorena Wiebes take the win yesterday, the men's Profronde van Drenthe took place today and was discussed between mostly Pro Teams. Dries van Gestel took what was only the second, but the biggest win of his career.

The 198-kilometer race resembled yesterday's course, with some early cobbled sectors, and then a final circuit based around the VAM-berg, a small cobbled climb which was tackled five times and was the place where the race mostly blew up, as the traditional aggressive spirit dictated the race today. Jumbo-Visma and Arkéa Samsic had a battle on Dutch roads and had a great portion of the leading group that went into the final lap of the circuit where van Gestel himself imploded the group, causing small groups to be spread throughout the road.

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As Jumbo attacked the group in the final kilometers with their numerical advantage with Timo Roosen and Mick van Dijke. As Roosen attacked with three kilometers to go, pre-race favourite Hugo Hofstetter and van Gestel followed, and when the pace slowed the TotalEnergies rider accelerated with no response as the duo were absorbed by the rest of the group.

Van Gestel showed his strong current form he's shown in the semi-classics so far and soloed to the race win in style. Barnabás Peák and Hugo Hofstetter completed the podium, coming in with the sprint in the chasing group.