22nd March – Koewacht – Koewacht
Team Picnic PostNL’s Development program teamed up once more with Dutch Food Valley Cycling Team on Saturday afternoon, fielding a mixed squad at Wim Hendriks Trofee; part of the U23 Road Series. Taking place on two different circuits in and around Koewacht; cobbles, narrow roads and wind dictated the day.
After a dangerous early break was brought back by the team, the race split once more with Jacob Bush infiltrating the group of 14 for the team. Those ahead kept the pace up and consistently led the peloton by around 30 seconds to one minute, before it split once more. Bush who was riding attentively, made the new leading group of seven. From there, he managed his effort as best as he could, playing the numbers game and the sprint finisher card of Johan Dorussen in the chasing peloton. Ultimately those ahead stayed clear, where Bush gave his all in the finale to sprint to third place on the day.
Bush said: “From the start it was full gas racing and positioning really was the key. Halfway into the race a small break got away that seemed dangerous but Lotto and us brought it back to reset the race. This was a key point where it split again. Luckily I was on the right side of it and could stay up in the front safely. We were in a group of around 14 which then split down into seven. I was by myself with a couple teams who had numbers so played the game best I could and knowing that behind we had Johan to sprint with. In the end we stayed away and third in the sprint was the best I could do. It’s nice to get stuck into a race which I didn’t think would suit me so well.”
Team Picnic PostNL coach Joey van Rhee added: “We did quite a good job to stay in front together at the start, but we missed a break of five that went. A lot of the stronger teams were in there apart from Lotto so they then chased it down fully. We then made a bit of a mistake that only Jacob was in there as part of that new echelon that formed, because other teams had quite a lot of numbers in the 15. It split again though into a group of seven with Jacob in there, and in the end he could sprint to a third place. It’s a nice result for our Development program but there are some improvements we can make too. For example when you see that Lotto were riding all the time, we should have been there too as the second team and turning with them instead of only one of our riders making that echelon. After nine months of no racing for Thom then he was also really motivated, so spent maybe too much energy at the start, but he did a good job in the race. It’s a good step forward again by the guys, and a nice podium place, so onto the next ones!”