ZLM Tour: Herregodts wins overall after leading race from start to finish

 A mid-stage crash could not stop Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Wanty) from winning the final overall of the 2024 ZLM Tour with the final stage taken in a thrilling sprint finish by Denmark’s Alexander Salby (Bingoal WB).

With just over 60 kilometres to go on the pancake flat stage, Herregodts was part of a 13 rider break, only for him to crash and fall back to the bunch and then call for a replacement bike.

After the break was reeled in close to the finish in Ousterhout, Herregodts stayed in the bunch to claim the overall victory after leading the race from start to finish.

The sprinters were not able to stop Salby from making a blistering late acceleration, powering out of the pack with less than 300 metres to go and fending off fastmen Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jakub Marezcko (Corratec-Vini Fantini) for the final stage.

Just as on Saturday, the early racing saw more splits almost as soon as the start flag dropped, with a massive group of 38 riders heading up the road. That was brought back, but the average speed of 50.959kmh for the first hour spoke volumes about the frantic nature of the racing. However, Herregodts was never far away from the front and when a 13-rider group formed with 80 kilometres to go, the Belgian took the best option to him and made sure he was part of it.

However, a crash for Herregodts when Rudiger Selig (Astana Qazaqstan) went down in front of him in some brutal crosswinds on exposed roads truly set the cat amongst the pigeons. Seemingly not too injured but quickly caught by the peloton, Herregodts tough stage continued as he was forced to ask for a replacement bike.

Despite containing various dangerous riders for the overall, the break did not collaborate enough to keep the bunch at any practical distance as they moved onto the first of four laps of a local finishing circuit in Ousterhout. Their maximum gap of a minute shrank to a paltry 24 seconds with 26 kilometres to go and ten kilometres further on, despite some last-ditch efforts from the three VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane present - Filippo Magli, Luca Colnaghi and  Samuele Zoccarato  - the break was finally sucked in, and Herregodts could breathe a little easier.

Intermarché-Wanty and Tudor continued to keep a loose control on affairs on the technical local finishing circuit, trailing multiple attacks by Jan-Willem Van Schip (Parkhotel Valkenburg). Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL, working for their double stage winner Casper van Uden, were also increasingly present in numbers. Van Uden was still very well placed, second in the string, as they approached the final kilometre, only for an attack by Julian Vermote (Visma-Lease A Bike) as the road rose slightly on a small bridge, the only ‘climb’ of any description on the circuit, to disrupt affairs again. 

But what truly left the sprinters reeling was a flying late move by Bingoal WB rider Salby, powering out of the pack with 400 metres to go. Try as the sprinters might, it was too late for them to get back on terms, and the Dane just held on to claim a surprising but well-deserved win.

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