Jakobsen can't get it done in Veenendaal as Moschetti proves strongest

Veenendaal-Veenendaal has been won by Matteo Moschetti. The Italian from Pinarello-Q36.5 was comfortably the fastest in the widely anticipated mass sprint. Manuel Peñalver (Polti VisitMalta) and Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL) had to settle for silver and bronze respectively. Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) narrowly missed the podium in fourth.

It was time for one of the most important one-day races in the Dutch cycling calendar: Veenendaal-Veenendaal. The race has been held since 1985 and boasts a fine roll of honour. The women's race was held on the Friday, where top favourite Charlotte Kool took the win. This Saturday it was the men's turn, with the race returning to the calendar after a one-year absence.

With Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic PostNL), Gerben Thijssen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Zijlaard (Tudor), Sam Bennett and Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) all at the start, it promised to be a quality sprint showdown. But there was no shortage of attackers either: Taco van der Hoorn (Lotto-Intermarché) was in the race and made his presence felt immediately.

He accelerated early, but in the Utrecht heat the tempo was high from the start — leading to several different breakaway configurations in the opening phase. Eventually eleven riders managed to break clear, but it was Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla), Bram Danklof (Azerion Villa Valkenburg), Bram Dissel (Beat CC p/b Saxo) and Silas Koech (Lotto Kern-Haus) who lasted longest and stayed out front as a group of four.

Did the breakaway stand a chance? Not really, as the various sprinters' teams were chasing hard in the bunch — and with success. The quartet was reeled in at exactly the right moment, with nine kilometres to go.

All eyes could then turn to the mass sprint, which was perfectly suited to Moschetti's strengths. Peñalver and Biesterbos joined him on the podium. Jakobsen was unable to stay at the front and had already been dropped before the finale, while Thijssen was caught up in a crash and saw his chances go up in smoke.