Dylan Groenewegen was left beating himself up and rueing his timing at the finish of stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia, as he was narrowly beaten to the line by Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
With an arrow straight, wide 7km stretch of road bringing the sprint teams into the final kilometre, it was all about coming up at the right time and not too early. Groenewegen's Unibet Rose Rockets seemed to have this tactic nailed as their light blue and pink jerseys speared through to the front with 500 metres to go.
The Dutchman was coiled and ready to sprint, but hesitated, thinking it was too early, allowing Milan to get the jump on him and eventual winner Magnier to get the ideal position on the big Italian's wheel.
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The Frenchman came around him for the victory, and while Groenewegen closed with impressive speed, it wasn't enough as the three threw their bikes at the line. Magnier wasn't 100% sure he'd won it, but Groenewegen certainly knew he'd lost the stage.
"No, I felt immediately that was not just for victory. I had the speed, but yeah, I went too late," said the Dutchman at the finish line.
"The team did a perfect job, an amazing job. What we missed on the first day, we did everything in the right way today. But I just had to go. It was with 200 metres to go, I think, I had the speed… stupid."
Eurosport asked Groenewegen if there was any consolation he could take from his shape, given he'd crashed two days earlier on the opening sprint stage, and hadn't even had a chance to go for the finish.
Still feeling the immediate emotions of a sprint loss he felt he could have won, the Dutchman was frank: "No, not really. We came for the victory, also the first day, then we crashed. It can happen in a race."
Making things worse was the sound of Magnier and his Soudal-QuickStep teammates celebrating together just metres away, surrounded by photographers and cameras trying to capture the contrasting emotions of victory for the Frenchman.
"You heard the sound, that's what I want with the team," he said. "It can happen, but for next time at least it's hopeful."
Six-time Tour de France stage winner Groenewegen is chasing a maiden Giro victory for himself in 2026, but perhaps more importantly, he's trying to secure the first victory for Unibet Rose Rockets – the team born out of a YouTube channel – in their debut Grand Tour.
That wait continues as the whole race heads to Italy tonight, but Groenewegen and the new team on the scene will have plenty more opportunities to get that timing right. His speed certainly looks akin to what he showed in those six previous Grand Tour successes.
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