Development Team Picnic PostNL take breakaway spoils with Pavel Sumpik win

Photo Credit: FG Photos / Circuit des Ardennes

Building on good performances in recent races, Development Team Picnic PostNL took a great win on Thursday afternoon from the breakaway at Circuit des Ardennes with Pavel Sumpik.

A strong team ride in the beginning of the stage saw the Development program ride aggressively in an effort to make the breakaway, after the escapees won the opening stage. Rotating through the attacks, eventually a group of five went clear after 80 kilometres which featured Sumpik. The leading group worked well together throughout the remainder of the stage and kept pushing on the pedals. Coming into the final five kilometres they still had a 45 second advantage and although the chase was fierce behind, the now leading trio would go on to fight for the stage win. Sumpik showed a quick pair of wheels and the same speed that saw him and the Development program take third at the recent Youngster Coast Challenge, powering across the line to win in Rethel.

Sumpik reflected: “Today was a great and fun day of nonstop racing, where we showed really good teamwork and always had someone in the front. In the end I jumped into the break that quickly got a pretty nice gap. There were five of us in there and we all cooperated well. In the end we could hold off the peloton. Two guys dropped and we went to the sprint between the three of us, and I was able to win. I am really proud of the team performance, all of us were a part of it today and we delivered it together.”