Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen returned to the top step of the podium in style at the Tour de France with a stunning and emotional victory on stage three in Denmark for Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
Groenewegen put his hands to his head as he crossed the line, unsure if he’d taken the win, but the emotions soon poured out as his first Tour de France stage win in three years was confirmed.
The 29-year-old notched up his fifth career Tour victory with a typically powerful and well-timed dash to the line after superb work from his Team BikeExchange-Jayco teammates in the finale.
It was a relatively straightforward stage for the most part as just one rider headed up the road when the flag dropped, with Dane Chris Juul-Jensen quickly assuming his position at the head of the bunch as the squad laid out their intentions for the day.
There was a brief scare for Groenewegen with 9km to go as he narrowly avoided a pile-up in the bunch, but the Dutchman was quickly able to make it back towards the head of the pack with help from his teammates.
The tricky and winding run to the final kilometre made positioning vital ahead of the last corner and Amund Grøndahl Jansen used all his experience to drag Groenewegen into the mix after impressive work from Luka Mezgec to protect his team leader.
With the main contenders fighting for position in the final 800 metres, Groenewegen stood his ground before diving through a gap as the sprint opened up, with the victory coming down to a bike throw for the line.
Dylan Groenewegen (1st)
“I have to say thanks to my team, and to my family and friends to bring me back to the Tour in a good shape, it’s beautiful! Not physically, but mentally it was a hard time, of course. After all that happened, also with my family, but this is for my wife and my son, it means a lot to me.
Yesterday I was a little bit angry at myself. Today, we were a long-time boxed-in, I was also involved with a crash a bit with 9km to go, but they [the team] brought me back into position, we stayed calm.
In the end, I was on the right side, Amund brought me into a really good position on the left corner, I struggled a little bit in the left corner, but at the finish line it was enough and I can’t still believe it!”
Gerry Ryan (Team Owner)
“They knew they weren’t far away yesterday, and they just stuck to the plan again today. It’s planning, it’s persistence, it’s having the right people in the team. It’s a great team and they deserve it today.
It’s all about people and putting the right people together, and I’m very fortunate that this is a great organisation.”
Matt White (Head Sport Director)
“Yesterday didn’t go as we wanted it to, but you’ve got to move on quickly. That’s the secret of achieving anything in life and sport. The boys didn’t flinch at all after yesterday and they gave 100% commitment to Dylan.
Obviously, we’re really, really happy that Dylan could finish it off and win on the biggest stage in our sport. This means we’ve opened our account at the Tour de France.
It’s been a big comeback for Dylan, it’s never easy changing teams and he’s worked very, very hard this year and we’ve got a really strong, committed group around him and you saw from the result today how committed they were, and they gave him every opportunity to win and he finished it off very, very well.”
2022 Tour de France Stage 3 – Results:
- Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 4:11:33
- Wout van Aert ST
- Jasper Philipsen ST
Hero Image: Getty Sport
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