"I’m not happy, we came for the win" - Dylan Groenewegen misses out on another chance to make history for Unibet Rose Rockets

Unibet Rose Rockets are racing their first ever Grand Tour. At the Giro d'Italia, they have good chances of making history by winning their first ever stage in a three-week race, and the French team's hopes lie mainly on Dylan Groenewegen. Hence, the Dutchman was quite disappointed to just miss out on the win this afternoon in Sofia.

“I knew immediately that I hadn’t won. I had the speed, but I was too late," Gornewegen said in a post-race interview. The two initial sprint stages in Bulgaria were quite ideal for the Dutchman, lacking the climbs or the hard pace throughout the day which could pose an obstacle to him.

Pure sprint stages for a pure sprinter who previously won the Tour of Bruges this spring. Groenewegen began the stage as one of the big favourites, despite having crashed on the opening day's mass fall in Burgas, and was in the right position by the time the sprinters launched their bid for the line this Sunday.

"The team did a great job. What went wrong during the first sprint opportunity worked out well today. But I just should have gone for it earlier; I think I went with about 300 meters to go. I had the speed, so stupid...”

The final sprint saw Jonathan Milan launch it first, and Paul Magnier then jumped from his wheel. Groenewegen was in the mix and had the speed to come around them, but not the space. In a photo-finish, the leader of Unibet had to settle for a third place.

“No, I’m not happy, we came for the win. Of course I crashed [on stage 1], but that can happen in a race.” There will be more opportunities, but the pressure is also on the Dutchman's shoulders, whose defeat against Paul Magnier was ironically displayed on screen.

“Do you hear that (referring to Soudal - Quick-Step's celebrations, ed.)? That’s what I want for my team. It can happen, but next time. It was hopeful today, at the very least," he concluded.