Gerben Thijssen wins Omloop van het Houtland

Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) powered to his fourth win of the 2023 season, taking out the Omloop van het Houtland ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) and Cedric Beullens (Lotto Dstny).

"I was focused on the sprint train of dsm-firmenich until Arne Marit came from the back to make room for me and to bring me to sprint speed with 200 meter to go. He was the last element in a perfect team job today," Thijssen said. 

"I’m proud to reward the confidence of my teammates. At the end of a difficult race, this success confirms that I am one of the sprinters not to be neglected. This is a boost of confidence before my final four weeks of the season and even towards next year.”

Thijssen made the decisive front split after Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) shattered the peloton with an acceleration with 30km to go and, despite a flurry of attacks, was unshakable.

Team DSM-Firmenich had four riders in the move but couldn't deliver, while Intermarché timed their efforts perfectly.

The 195.2km flat route from Eernegem to Lichtervelde. finished with nine laps of a 12.1km circuit and seemed destined to be a bunch sprint.

Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Abram Stockman (TDT-Unibet), and Tom Sexton (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) formed the early move but never gained more than three minutes and were caught on the closing circuits.

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