Langeveld wins Dutch road race title

Sebastian Langeveld won the Dutch road race national championships. In a rain-soaked Ootmarsum, the Garmin-Sharp rider arrived solo after a 243 kilometre race. Niki Terpstra finished second. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider beat Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s Wesley Kreder on the line.

"Finally, this is definitely it finally," the new national champion said after the finish. Langeveld finished on the podium three times in his career and finished in the top ten on three other occasions, most recently third last year. This week he was second in the time trial championships, which was a clear indication of his form.

"I have been so close so often. I have been on the podium so many times. Finally I get to wear the red-white-and-blue jersey," Langeveld beamed.

Although not in the hilly Limburg province as in the previous two years, the course offered almost 2,000 altitude metres with lots of turns, cobbles and typical Dutch road furniture, by no means an easy race.

The traditional early breakaway went in the first of the 18 laps of 13,5 kilometres. With three riders for Belkin (Tom Leezer, Nick van der Lijke and Maarten Tjallingii) and two for Giant-Shimano (Tom Stamsnijder and Brian Bulgac) and one for the Giant-Shimano development team, cyclocross rider Lars van der Haar, the two biggest teams were evenly balanced.

The gap of the 15-man breakaway went over 11 minutes before the continental team of Parkhotel tried to close the gap. They needed help from other teams, including Garmin-Sharp.

"It was Dylan van Baarle and Tom Jelte Slagter who started working, without me asking them," Langeveld said. "This morning Tom told me that he wanted to do something in return for the work I did for him in Paris-Nice and the Amstel Gold Race. He was an invaluable help today."

When the gap was closed Langeveld jumped to the original breakaway where Tjallingii was still powering away. Former Dutch champions Lars Boom (Belkin) and Niki Terpstra followed suit, as did the new time trial champion Tom Dumoulin, amongst others.

"Not everyone was looking very fresh,” Langeveld understated the race situation. The race was characterized by heavy rain showers and thunder in the opening stages and halfway into the race. “I feared Boom, Terpstra and Dumoulin the most.”

One and a half laps from the finish Langeveld attacked the break. “I rode the Dutch time trial championships earlier this week to practice riding solo because I knew that if I wanted to win here, I would have to do it on my own. And so I did, until the line.”

Tjallingii, already present in the early break, found his second legs and tried to bridge to the 29-year old leader but Langeveld’s lead only grew.

For the fifth year in a row, the biggest team of the Netherlands failed to take the national title. In 2010 and 2012 Niki Terpstra snatched it away, in 2011 Pim Ligthart proved the strongest and last year Johnny Hoogerland won the red-white-blue jersey.

"They can only lose," Terpstra commented on the numeric advantage both Belkin and Giant-Shimano could not play out. "But it’s not that we as smaller teams, or solo riders like Ligthart start the race with that thought in mind, to slay the giant."

Terpstra was gracious in his defeat. "I think it’s great that Sebastian wins the race today. In Roubaix, I could come back partly because he was riding so hard. Now he wins. We get to meet each other in many races in the spring. I am happy for him."

Langeveld will show his jersey in the upcoming Tour de France. "I am on the shortlist of the team. They will announce the team next week but you will see me there," he smiled.

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