Dutch U17 champion disqualified for raising his hands to celebrate in the finish

Last weekend the Dutch U17 championship took place on the famous VAM mountain in Drenthe. The newcomers' race had a dramatic ending with the stage going down in a sprint of a small group.

Finn Bastiaanssen had the strongest kick on the VAM mountain and sprinted to the Dutch tricolor. He threw his two arms in the air with joy, but his cheering cost him very dearly. It is forbidden for the youth categories to race with their hands off the handlebars.

The competition jury was unrelenting. One hour after the finish, Bastiaanssen was relegated to a last spot in the group due to careless driving. Thijs Wiersma was declared the winner. Bastiaanssen dropped to fifth place.

"I have mixed feelings here," said the newly crowned Dutch champion among the novices afterwards. "But Finn made a mistake, that's the way it is. I would have preferred to win in a good way by crossing the line first. That didn't work due to a mistake on my part."

"After an hour I had won. Nice on the one hand, but you miss the moment when you are the first to cross the line. I came here to win. That just didn't work out, but it did. That's nice and also not again. I can be happy with it and I will wear the jersey with pride."