"Tell that to Ralph Denk" - Danny van Poppel sends message to team boss after unexpected Dutch title
Cycling
The 2025 Dutch Championships were designed to please the fast men of peloton with a flat 160-kilometer course in Ede. No force was able to prevent the expected bunch sprint and there we found a surprising winner with Danny van Poppel sprinting past both big favourites Olav Kooij and Dylan Groenewegen.
"I have learned to stay calm. This is great," Van Poppel is overjoyed. "I came here to win and nothing else. You have to have self-confidence and I still can't really believe it. I haven't participated for five years and thought: I'll try again."
There's not much time for celebrations though. Van Poppel is heading to Tour de France in his new jersey next week. "We'll have to see about that. In any case, I'm going to have a nice evening, I'm sure of that," Van Dijke grins.
On French roads, Van Poppel will be again leading out Belgian sprinter Jordi Meeus. Or maybe should he get his own chance? "Tell that to Ralph (Denk, ed.)," grinned the winner.
Olav Kooij
It's been already mentioned that Van Poppel owes a lot of his victory to the 'lead-out' he received from opponent Olav Kooij. The 23-year-old winner of two Giro stages last month simply lacked a bit to finish off his long sprint after 3 hours of full throttle racing.
Olav Kooij wins stage 12 of 2025 Giro d'Italia
"It was a fair sprint, I think," Kooij mourned after the finish at the NOS. "My legs were a bit empty, although I still squeezed everything out of them. I felt Danny coming and unfortunately the finish line came just too late. I don't think I did anything wrong, just a fair winner," expressed the Dutchman.
The Visma | Lease a Bike star is not overly concerned about this outcome when he looks at the race from broader perspective. "He is in a different build-up towards the Tour, you could see that towards this race. He has a super good level and my tank is a bit empty. For me it is good to rest now and build up again. For him it is super nice that he becomes champion."
Dylan Groenewegen
The defender of victory from last year, Dylan Groenewegen, was not too far off the victory either. But the sprinter of Jayco AlUla made few tactical mistakes in the final and ended up closed on the barriers, sprinting only to a third place. A result that's not to his liking.
"I'm definitely not happy," Groenewegen was visibly upset. "I like winning and I already had bronze. Gold too, but I think I had the legs to win. Third place doesn't make you very happy. I thought: I'll go via the left, immediately after the bend. But then I had to brake hard."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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