17/04/2024

“I’m not a typical sprinter” - Marijn van den Berg shows his versatility in the Ardennes Classics

After a strong start to the season with a podium finish in Trofeo Palma at the Challenge Mallorca and second place on the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve, Marijn van den Berg took his first win of the season on stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya and finished runner-up the following day.

He then made his debut at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, finishing in 54th place and helping his EF Education-EasyPost teammate Alberto Bettiol to a top-10 result, before heading to the Pays de la Loire Tour, where he won two stages, as well as both the general classification and the points classification.

After those wins, he raced well at Brabantse Pijl, attacking off the front of the race with 2.5km to go. However, he did not have enough in the legs to bring home the victory, as he was caught inside the final 500 metres, finishing seventh. The race was won in the sprint by Benoît Cosnefroy, whom Van den Berg had beaten in a sprint at the Pays de la Loire Tour a week prior.

At the Amstel Gold Race the following Sunday, Van den Berg suffered a crash in the closing kilometres, but still managed to finish in eleventh place behind Michael Matthews in the bunch sprint behind the leaders, narrowly missing out on a top-10 result.

"It was a bit stupid not to go for the sprint" - Marijn van den Berg rues wasted opportunity at Brabantse Pijl

Speaking in an interview with In de Leiderstrui about his home race last weekend, Van den Berg said “of course, I'm really disappointed about that crash. But it was very special that all the guys were working for me. I felt good, so we discussed it and made the decision as a team. Also, the fact that I could race in front of so many Dutch fans was special”.

All of his results this season show the Dutchman’s versatility as a rider though, as he went on to say that “the team now also knows that I'm not a typical sprinter, I need a tougher race and then being in a smaller group. Normally, I’m the fastest man on the team, but we don’t have many fast men”.

On his approach to racing this season, Van den Berg stated “I want to get better right away, but actually, I just want to do as well as possible in every race. I also think it’s important to get back into that flow right away. Not just for myself, but for the whole team. Last year I noticed that it makes a difference when everyone in the team starts off well”.