Two weeks after he had to quit the Giro d'Italia because of concussion, Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) has claimed his first win of the season in the Veenendaal Classic.
Moschetti was able to take the win in the fast and fraught Dutch one-day race by a narrow but convincing margin over Manuel Penalver (Polti-VisitMalta) and Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL).
The Italian was a victim of the late mass crash on stage 1 in the Giro's opening bunch sprint, completing the course but then being a DNS for stage 2. In Holland, the 29-year-old Italian was able to claim the 15th victory of his career and first since a stage of the Vuelta a Burgos last summer.
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First run in 1985, Veenendaal itself was back on the agenda after a year missing from the calendar because of country-wide policing issues for bike races. On its return, it reverted to its traditional flat, technical course that has often favoured the sprinters in the past - like Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Veenendaal's record-holder with five wins, but currently racing the Giro.
On the ultra-fast course with three long laps of 41 kilometres followed by two shorter ones of 23 kilometres, there were multiple attempts at early breakaways flourished and equally quickly collapsed. One of the most promising included one 11-man move by specialist Taco van de Hoorn (Lotto Intermarché), riding just his second race of 2026 after concussion and a knee injury sparked yet another period of recovery.
However, none could gain more than a handful of seconds until mid-race a four-rider move materialised with Patrick Gamper (Jayco-AUIa), Bram Danklof (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg), Bram Dissel (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) adn Silas Koech (Lotto Kern-Haus Outlet Montabau). These four made it over the minute mark and were still ahead on the final 23 kilometre lap, only for Pinarello-Q36.5, Lotto-Intermarché and Alpecin-Premier Tech to begin the process of reeling them in remorselessly as the finish line approached.
Alpecin's master plan with Gerben Thijssen came unstuck when the Belgian sprinter crashed, but even if the crosswinds reduced the size of the bunch, there was still next to no chance of the four ahead getting to the finish. Rather, things continued to move in the sprinters' favour, with Moschetti finally able to claim a narrow but clear win over his closest rivals.
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