"Everyone was exhausted" - Leadout man Nils Eekhoff upsets the sprinters to take victory at Nokere Koerse 2025

He may not have been amongst the pre-race favourites, but Team Picnic PostNL's Nils Eekhoff was a very impressive winner at Nokere Koerse 2025 on Wednesday afternoon in Belgium. The 27-year-old Dutchman powered to just his 2nd pro victory in a thrilling finale.

"This is a very important victory," Eekhoff reflected with a beaming smile in his post-race interview afterwards. "It is my first win at a finishing line (only other pro win was a prologue of the ZLM Tour ed.), I am very happy to finish it today. They were tough weeks after the hard fall in the AlUla Tour. I'm super proud with this comeback."

Primarily a leadout man, Eekhoff had been expected to do the work for teammate Pavel Bittner in the finale, but in the end he proved strongest himself. "It was a tricky finish. It was obviously the first time, so it was difficult timing for everyone," Eekhoff recaps. "I was actually positioning my teammate Pavel Bittner. Then the guys went from far, but everyone broke down. I waited a bit, got on and kept it going."

And following that aforementioned crash in Saudi Arabia, it marks an immediate and very welcome return to his best form. "I worked very hard to get back to level and I think I have succeeded quite well," concludes the Nokere Koerse winner.