The stage from Drøbak was coloured by Julie Van de Velde. The Belgian from Team Jumbo-Visma got a maximum lead of more than six minutes together with Rossella Ratto. Van de Velde rode in the lead for a long time and was only caught in the last twenty kilometres of today’s stage. Nancy van der Burg tried to join one of the breakaways in the local laps in Halden, but a bunch sprint could no longer be avoided.
Markus looked back on this stage race with a good feeling. “I never expected to win a stage and finish seventh overall. I want to thank the team for the work they have done for me. We have ridden a nice race as a team. Today we were able to put our mark on the stage again. After the first day in which we had the necessary bad luck, we did not lose motivation and we recovered well from that. We can be very proud of what we have shown and achieved here.”
Sports director Lieselot Decroix agreed. “Today our aim was to defend Riejanne’s top ten place in the overall standings. We don’t have a sprinter with us so we knew it was going to be difficult to get a good result today. That’s why our plan was to send someone in the early breakaway. That worked out well with Julie. In the final there were some splits in the peloton, but we managed to stay in the front. As a result, Riejanne was able to move up two places in the GC. It was a more than successful day for us.”
“We can look back on a successful race anyway”, Decroix continued her story. “We came here to win a stage. That worked out well. It is easier said than done, because it is not easy in such a strong field. On top of that we also finished in the top ten overall. So all in all it has been a great week. Over the past days I have seen the team evolve day per day. We can be very proud not only about the results, but also about the steps we have made again this week.”
