Omloop het van Houtland win crucial for Gerben Thijssen - "I had a lot of doubts about myself"

The Omloop het van Houtland classic was far from the spotlight yesterday, but it held a very respectable sprinter field. Gerben Thijssen took the win over Dylan Groenewegen, and it was a necessary one as he had to change his late-season plans completely due to Covid-19.

"I had a lot of doubts about myself after the corona infection prior to the Vuelta a Espana. I lost my motivation for a week. Then it was time to start training hard again with the aim of winning one of the autumn races," Thijssen said following a race. "First of all, it was good for me that I was in the first group. To be able to finish it in the sprint, thanks to a super good lead-out from Arne [Marit]. That is really textbook."

The Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider finished second in the GP de Fourmies and fourth at the Gooikse Pijl, he was close to return to his winning ways but hadn't quite gotten there yet. Yesterday he succeeded, beating Groenewegen and Cedric Beulleuns in a fast sprint. “I knew that you had to be right at the front at the last hairpin bend. I was perfectly in line with the DSM men, but five hundred meters from the finish I was actually a bit boxed in," he tells.

But then, he managed to raise his arms in glory for the first time - in a UCI race - since the Ronde van Limburg back in May. "Then Arne came from behind and shouted 'Come on, G'. I followed his slipstream and he did a great job of pushing me off. I also started celebrating it too early. I still had to jump, but I was confident. I felt I was going to win, but it didn't matter.”