Germany’s Max Walscheid won the third stage of the ZLM Tour, covering more than 200 kilometres through West Brabant and Zeeland. The 33-year-old Lidl-Trek rider proved fastest on the streets of Bergen op Zoom, beating Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe riders Alessio Magagnotti and Danny van Poppel in the sprint. Mathias Vacek retains the yellow ZLM leader’s jersey.

Dutch-Belgian breakaway

Dutch riders Martijn Rasenberg (Unibet Rose Rockets), Rik van der Wal (EEW-VDK
Cyclingteam), Jesse Kramer and Max Kroonen (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) went on the attack early in the stage, joined by Belgian rider Leander van Hautegem (Team Flanders-Baloise). 

After crossing the Oesterdam, an eleven-rider chasing group formed, featuring race
leader Mathias Vacek, Héctor Álvarez and Max Walscheid for Lidl-Trek; Tim van Dijke,
Mick van Dijke, Danny van Poppel and Alessio Magagnotti for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe; Niklas Behrens, Owain Doull and Loe van Belle for Visma-Lease a Bike; and Axel van der Tuuk of Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Powerful sprint

Eventually, a leading group of ten riders remained to contest the stage win. With a
powerful sprint, Walscheid surged past the young Italian Magagnotti inside the final fifty metres.

“It was a tough day because of the strong winds,” said Walscheid. “In the final kilometres I tried to save some energy so I could go all-out for the stage win. I’m very happy that I was able to finish off the work my teammate Vacek did for me.”

The experienced German is looking ahead with confidence to the final two days of the
ZLM Tour. “I hope the wind eases a little over the next few days, because the past few stages have been really tough. But as a team, we are ready for what’s to come.”

Martijn Rasenberg was named the most combative rider of the day. The Unibet Rose
Rockets rider spent almost the entire stage on the attack and eventually finished ninth.

A new mountain awaits tomorrow

Mathias Vacek retains both the yellow ZLM leader’s jersey and the red Postcode Loterij
points classification jersey, while Héctor Álvarez remains in the lead of the Škoda young rider classification. 

The fourth stage of the ZLM Tour, on Saturday 5 September, starts and finishes in Schijndel and covers 210 kilometres. In the finale, the riders will tackle the Vlagheideberg several times.