"That speed he showed at the end is huge": Marcel Kittel praises Groenewegen's sprint as Unibet Rose Rockets find their groove

The opening weekend of the Giro d'Italia in Bulgaria is officially in the books, and the fast men have had plenty of chances to test their legs. For the Unibet Rose Rockets, racing in their very first Grand Tour, these first three days have been a big learning experience. While stage 1 ended in a crash for Dylan Groenewegen, stage 3 showed that the team is ready to fight for wins against the best in the world.

Things did not go smoothly for the team on the first sprint day, with Groenewegen getting caught out of position and crashing. But on stage 3, the sprint train was firmly on the tracks. Elmar Reinders put Groenewegen in a perfect spot to launch his sprint at the end of the race.

However, in the final hundreds of meters, which featured tricky city cobblestones, Groenewegen hesitated just before a left corner. He had to hit the brakes for a moment, and that caused him to lose the speed he needed. By the time he got his legs going again, it was too late. He finished very fast in the last 100 meters, but he had to settle for third place.

"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," Groenewegen admitted after the race. "I had the speed, so stupid...”

Sprint coach Marcel Kittel agreed that Groenewegen was probably the fastest guy out there on the day. He noted that the quick hesitation before the corner took away his winning momentum. But looking at the whole picture, the former German sprint star is very happy with how the team is working together.

"Even if I look at this realistically, I look at it very positively. We have grown again in the first three days of this Giro d'Italia," Kittel explained in words to Indeleiderstrui. "On the first day, the teamwork between the guys wasn't totally great yet, because it is still a team that needs to grow together."

With riders like Lukas Kubis and Matyas Kopecky still getting used to their roles in the train, Kittel was impressed by how fast they improved to deliver their leader safely to the front.

"I think we have already shown in an impressive way on day three that we can do this," Kittel said. "We are sprinting here against the best teams and sprinters in the world and we were able to show ourselves in this finale, which was actually pretty hard. You didn't have corners here and that makes it a waiting game. I also have to give my compliments to Elmar Reinders, who coached the team very well in the finale. That is a very nice base, despite the disappointment that we didn't win. For Dylan, that is an important confirmation."

Even though Groenewegen was upset about missing the win, Kittel sees that as a good thing. It shows he is hungry and his body is ready to win. "He is in good shape. That speed he showed at the end is huge," Kittel added. "Dylan is a top athlete and he doesn't come here to finish third. I totally get that. But it is our first Grand Tour and by taking control and taking the lead, we have shown that we matter."