Whilst many will have predicted a Team Visma | Lease a Bike triumph at the 2024 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Jan Tratnik wouldn't have been top pick. Nevertheless, it was the Slovenian who triumphed in a thriller on Saturday.
"We know we have a strong team. Today I was also here in more of a domestique role s I certainly didn't expect it myself," reflected Tratnik in his post-race interview having taken victory ahead of Nils Politt with Wout van Aert ensuring two Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders on the podium. “The men did very well halfway through the race. I sat a little from the back so I could relax as much as possible. It wasn't really a controlled chase. It was accelerating all the time and then stalling again. Still, I had to continue to believe in it."
With a very strong, six man group looking very strong for the win, Tratnik and the rest of the peloton looked to have lost any hopes of victory. But in a thrilling final 15km everything came back together. "Then we grabbed them back and I was able to counter," Tratnik recalls. "This is the biggest victory of my career."
"Although I was a bit afraid whether I could win the sprint. Nils Politt started very early and then I started to believe in it. It is very nice to be on stage," he concludes delightedly.
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