What a stunt! Kooij can't finish Visma's hard work, Van Poppel takes Dutch jersey to the Tour

The 41-kilometer circuit, which the women completed three times, was completed four times by the men for a total distance of 163 kilometers. It was not a particularly technical circuit, with long, straight sections, so the sprinter teams had already seen that control was possible in the women's race. However, the attackers on duty had also seen that the only chance of victory could be created with a tough race, so they went full throttle from the start.

In the first lap, the pace barely dropped below 50 kilometers per hour, and after 65 kilometers and one and a half laps, we still had no breakaway. That changed when eight men came together. That group included WorldTour riders Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) and Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla), who were looking to make the most of the day. Visma | Lease a Bike and Picnic PostNL controlled the peloton for sprinters Olav Kooij and Casper van Uden, with support from Diftar.

The eight never built up a big lead, as there was too much at stake. With Lars Loohuis, Ryan Gal, Jordan Habets, Philip Heijnen, Stijn Daemen, and Ed Uptegrove also on board, there was enough power to keep the breakaway going. After a hundred kilometers of racing, the sprinter teams kept them within a minute, keeping everything open.

Just as the final lap began, there was regrouping after the leading group had broken apart in a desperate attempt to break away. Once everything was back together, Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana) and Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) put the pedal to the metal. They had a strategy up their sleeves because although the peloton kept riding at full speed, the duo managed to gain 20 seconds.

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Visma | Lease a Bike remained the team in control, with Dylan van Baarle doing the hard work for Kooij. He kept Van Dijke and Teunissen in sight for a long time, but when the two were almost caught, Axel van der Tuuk (Metec) crossed over, which led to a whole new situation. For a moment, it looked like a dangerous group was breaking away, including time trial champion Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek). However, Kelderman attacked for Visma and slowed the pace.

The experienced rider's tactical work brought everyone back together, and when another duo broke away, Bart Lemmen did exactly the same. A tireless Van Baarle then neutralized a late attack by Bauke Mollema, and Kooij was brought to the finish line in a comfortable position. The sprinter teams raced past the brave Parkhotel rider Martijn Rasenberg and powered through the final corner. Kooij seemed to have it all under control, but it was not him or Dylan Groenewegen who won, but Van Poppel who crossed the line first!