Sinkeldam pips Wippert to Dutch road race title

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The Dutch national road race title came down to a bike throw with Team Sunweb's Ramon Sinkeldam narrowly getting the better of Wouter Wippert (Cannondale-Drapac). Defending champion Dylan Groenewegen finished in third place for LottoNL-Jumbo.

"This is an amazing victory for me and the team. The guys did an amazing job throughout the whole day and executed our plan to perfection," said Sinkeldam. "I was able to stay fresh for the finish and could finish off the team's hard work to take the win. It's amazing to have the support of the staff and team to be able to sprint to the win today, I am speechless."

Sinkeldam will debut his jersey at the Tour de France later this week having been named in Team Sunweb's line up. He will be an important rider for Michael Matthews with the Australian aiming for stage wins and the green jersey.

For Wippert, it was his second straight silver medal in the championships but the 26-year-old explained there was nothing he could have done to have claimed the win.

"Everything unfolded as I would have wanted. There's nothing I could have changed or would have done differently except, of course, to sprint a little faster," said Wippert. "Two millimeters isn't a big difference in terms of a measurement, but the difference between winning a national title and coming second is huge. I can say that I'm happy that I'm on the way up again, but I'm disappointed with the result.

"Last year, I finished second by one-and-a-half meters. This year it was millimeters. I'm getting closer. We'll see what that means for next year."

While Wippert was pleased with his silver, Groenewegen expressed his displeasure at missing out on the title having prepared only for victory.

"I came here to win, but those two were faster. I have to take pleasure in that. I did not consider Sinkeldam, to be honest, but on this arrival and after such a heavy route, he is the right winner," Groenewegen said post-race. "We lost and everyone is baffled, but I'm leaving here looking forward to the Tour de France next week."

Team Sunweb finish the Dutch national championships with the gold medal in both the road race and time trial after Tom Dumoulin successfully defended his title against the clock on Thursday.

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