Eneco Tour: Jakob Söderqvist secures leader's jersey as fastest rider in nighttime prologue at The Hague
Wessel Mouris and Christophe Laporte round out podium in tight evening race against the clock
Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek) won the prologue Tuesday night in The Hague to take the first leader's jersey of the Eneco Tour.
Sweden's time trial champion was the third-to-last rider on the 3.1km course and posted a winning time of 3 minutes, 32 seconds. A surprising time just seven-tenths of a second slower gave 23-year old Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets) second place. Last year's stage race GC winner Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) was third, 1.4 seconds behind the winner.
"These prologues are so much adrenaline, and you're really in a hot box in the end and super on your nerves when you cross the finish line," Söderqvist said to TV cameras at the finish.
He had no idea how tight the times were, and said "oh, better buy a lottery ticket then" when told his time was half a second better than Wessel Mouris.
"I had a pleasure to have a couple of days in orange also last year, and to be back here with good enough shape to start it even better."
For a while it looked like both Mouris brothers would grab podium spots, with Michiel Mouris (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) going second to his brother. Then the final four riders in the final wave shook the standings on scorching rides.
Great Britain's time trial champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep), who won the prologue last year, knocked Michiel Mouris down a spot with a faster time by 1 second. Then Laporte and Söderqvist dispatched the 19-year-old to fifth place, Hayter going fourth, and one brother on the podium.
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Speed under the lights
The recreated Tour of Holland, now Eneco Tour, made a return last year after a 21-year absence from the UCI calendar, and the composition of two time trials and four road stages was replicated for the 2026 edition. However, the twist this year was that all six days of racing integrated racing for pro women, formerly the Ladies Tour of Holland. The blend of staggered start times and similar routes using circuits began with the Prologue.
The action began Tuesday with a unique process for the 3.1km prologue - waves of women and men sharing the same course. The first 28 women took the start in The Hague at one-minute intervals followed by a five-minute break and then the first 28 men hit the course with the same spacing. This pattern for alternating waves was repeated, with a total of 88 women and 88 men on the start list, the early riders seeing the sun setting while the city course became illuminated by street lamps in the darkness.
The start ramp was inside the Sportcampus Zuiderpark multi-functional arena, Robbe Claeys (Volkerwessels Cycling) the first men's rider down the ramp at 18:34 local time for a quick lap around the park, and setting the standard at 3:52.
Nils Eekhoff (Picnic PostNL) took over the hot seat just six riders later with 3:47, and then was dispatched by Joeri Schaper (Soudal-QuickStep) who went four seconds faster.
The second wave of 30 riders started with Thor Verleysen (Volkerwessels Cycling). Eight riders later, Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets) flew across the course as the first rider to go under three minutes, 40 seconds, posting 3:39. He was nearly knocked off the hot seat by Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), who came through six-tenths of a second slower.
It was De Vries' teammate Thomáš Kopecký who then took over with 3:37. He held the best time as only Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep) came within one second from the next six riders completing the middle wave.
The final wave saw 23-year-old Wessel Mouris grab the lead in a time of 3:33. The TV camera showed him smiling broadly when his brother, Michiel Mouris almost took the spotlight, going just two seconds slower. The brothers, however, were one-two with 15 riders to go.
The last three riders featured Söderqvist, Laporte and New Zealand TT champion Finn Fischer-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Söderqvist stormed around the circuit for the best time, with Laporte getting a podium spot, but Fisher-Black coming up short in sixth.
After the prologue, stage 1 takes place in Ede with a flat 40-kilometre circuit that the men tackle three times and women twice. The men's stage begins after the women's finish.
Results
Place |
Full Name (Team) |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek) |
00:03:32 |
2 |
Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:01 |
3 |
Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:01 |
4 |
Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:02 |
5 |
Michiel Mouris (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:03 |
6 |
Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:04 |
7 |
Tomas Kopecky (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:05 |
8 |
Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:06 |
9 |
Edoardo Affini (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:06 |
10 |
Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:07 |
11 |
Kristian Egholm (Lidl-Trek) |
+0:00:07 |
12 |
Victor Campenaerts (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:07 |
13 |
Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:07 |
14 |
Sente Sentjens (Alpecin-Premier Tech) |
+0:00:07 |
15 |
Rik van der Wal (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:07 |
16 |
Pierre Thierry (Team TotalEnergies) |
+0:00:08 |
17 |
Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:08 |
18 |
Seb Grindley (Lidl-Trek) |
+0:00:09 |
19 |
Elmar Abma (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:09 |
20 |
Pavel Bittner (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:09 |
21 |
Milan De Ceuster (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:10 |
22 |
Filippo Fiorelli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:10 |
23 |
Davide Donati (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:11 |
24 |
Julius van den Berg (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:11 |
25 |
Milan Lanhove (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:11 |
26 |
Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) |
+0:00:11 |
27 |
Ferre Geeraerts (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:11 |
28 |
Joeri Schaper (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:11 |
29 |
Bram Dissel (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:12 |
30 |
Tuur Verbeeck (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:12 |
31 |
Frank van den Broek (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:12 |
32 |
Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:12 |
33 |
Simon Goossens (Alpecin-Premier Tech) |
+0:00:12 |
34 |
Danijel Agricola (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:13 |
35 |
Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:13 |
36 |
Nolan Huysmans (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:13 |
37 |
Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:13 |
38 |
Paul Conor (Team TotalEnergies) |
+0:00:13 |
39 |
Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:15 |
40 |
Thor Michielsen (Lidl-Trek) |
+0:00:15 |
41 |
Julian Vergouw (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:15 |
42 |
Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:15 |
43 |
Nils Eekhoff (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:15 |
44 |
Thomas Monkelbaan (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:15 |
45 |
Florian Dauphin (Team TotalEnergies) |
+0:00:15 |
46 |
Roy Hoogendoorn (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:15 |
47 |
Finn Crockett (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:16 |
48 |
Chiel Schulten (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:16 |
49 |
Steffen De Schuyteneer (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:17 |
50 |
Benedikt Benz (Lidl-Trek) |
+0:00:17 |
51 |
Jesse Kramer (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:17 |
52 |
Pietro Mattio (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:17 |
53 |
Gerben Thijssen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) |
+0:00:17 |
54 |
Cériel Desal (Soudal Quick-Step) |
+0:00:17 |
55 |
David Dekker (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:17 |
56 |
Gijs Schoonvelde (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:18 |
57 |
Bert Bolle (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:18 |
58 |
Menno Huising (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) |
+0:00:18 |
59 |
Mike Bronswijk (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:18 |
60 |
Jarne van de Ven (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:18 |
61 |
Sebastian Putz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) |
+0:00:18 |
62 |
Marijn Maas (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:18 |
63 |
Tim Naberman (Team Picnic PostNL) |
+0:00:19 |
64 |
Thor Verleysen (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:19 |
65 |
Jochem Kerckhaert (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:19 |
66 |
Florian Sénéchal (Alpecin-Premier Tech) |
+0:00:19 |
67 |
Max Kroonen (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) |
+0:00:19 |
68 |
Alan Jousseaume (Team TotalEnergies) |
+0:00:19 |
69 |
Robbe Claeys (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:20 |
70 |
Siebe Roesems (Alpecin-Premier Tech) |
+0:00:20 |
71 |
Siebe Deweirdt (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:21 |
72 |
Steijn Oosterveld (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:21 |
73 |
Nicola Marcerou (Team TotalEnergies) |
+0:00:21 |
74 |
Niek Voogt (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:22 |
75 |
Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:22 |
76 |
Luke Verburg (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:23 |
77 |
Mattanja Woets (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) |
+0:00:23 |
78 |
Mathis Avondts (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:23 |
79 |
Taco van der Hoorn (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:23 |
80 |
Leander Van Hautegem (Team Flanders-Baloise) |
+0:00:23 |
81 |
Hugo Paats (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam) |
+0:00:23 |
82 |
Otto van Zanden (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:24 |
83 |
Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:24 |
84 |
Johan Dorussen (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:25 |
85 |
Elmar Reinders (Unibet Rose Rockets) |
+0:00:26 |
86 |
Stef Koning (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) |
+0:00:26 |
87 |
Tars Poelvoorde (Lotto-Intermarché) |
+0:00:27 |
88 |
Roan Konings (Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) |
+0:00:29 |
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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