2018 Ronde van Drenthe (HC), Netherlands
Formerly "Albert Achterhes Profonde van Drenthe" and "Dwars door Drenthe"
56th edition: Sunday, March 11, 2018
Ronde van Drenthe podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition
Emmen - Hoogeveen, 192 km
Frantisek Sisr gives his team their first 2018 race win.
The race: Winner Frantisek Sisr's CCC Sprandi Polkowice team posted this report:
Frantisek Sisr claimed first road cycling victory for CCC Sprandi Polkowice of 2018 season, winning Dutch 1.HC race, Ronde van Drenthe.
Course: undulating, twisty, paved, cobbled and narrow roads, 4 short and punchy climbs to Vamberg in the second part of the race
Winner Frantisek Sisr said, "I consider myself to be a fast rider, so I waited for the sprint. When other riders in the breakaway were attacking I was only responding to their moves – Frantisek Sisr said afterwards. – I was pretty confident late in the race, since I know what my strengths are. I also knew how far back the peloton was in the final kilometer, so I could play my cards right.
"It was a very hard race and early on I was not feeling that great. Thankfully I found my rhythm and good sensations, to put myself in the position to battle for the victory. After last year’s 10th place in Drenthe I knew that this race suits me and I was looking forward to it.
"It’s very important victory not only for me, but for CCC Sprandi Polkowice. It’s the first one of the season and I believe that it is just a beginning of a great year for us."
The race got off to a lively start, with multiple breakaway attempts. First an 11-man group went clear, but it got caught quite early. Another move, which this time consisted of 3 riders stuck for a little longer, but they were also brought back in, with 120km remaining.
CCC Sprandi Polkowice riders were riding attentively in the peloton, making sure not to crash and keeping a safe position in the bunch. It was not an easy task to not fall on this dangerous, slippery and twisty course. Rain, cobblestone sections, narrow and paved roads in the forests made things tricky for the participants.
Artificial, man-made climb to Vamber (750m long, with slopes up to 20%) which that day was tackled four times, saw Wesley Kreder (Wanty-Group Gobert) and Jasper Bovenhuis (Vlasman) pulling away and gaining nearly a minute on the field. Later they were joined by 4 riders and among them there was Frantisek Sisr. After another move, another sextet bridged to the front, creating a 12-man leading group.
As it later turn out this was the decisive action of the day. The leaders were maintaining around 30s gap and kept it until the finish. The finale saw few attacks from the break, but Frantisek Sisr kept his cool and was able to respond to those attempts. In the very end he took advantage of his sprinting abilities, opening the sprint with 200m to go, holding on and getting a well-deserved victory.
Complete Results:
192 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.669 km/hr
| 1 | František Sisr | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 4hr 36min 28sec |
| 2 | Dries De Bondt | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 3 | Preben Van Hecke | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 4 | Zakkari Dempster | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 5 | Wesley Kreder | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 6 | Rick Ottema | Alecto Cycling | s.t. |
| 7 | Floris Gerts | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 8 | Joey van Rhee | Monkey Town | @ 3sec |
| 9 | Johan Le Bon | Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 10 | Jasper Bovenhuis | Vlasman Cycling | s.t. |
| 11 | Coen Vermeltfoort | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | +19'' |
| 12 | Pim Ligthart | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 13 | Amaury Capiot | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 14 | Jonas Rickaert | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 15 | Jordi Warlop | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 16 | André Looij | Monkey Town | s.t. |
| 17 | Moreno Hofland | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 18 | Aksel Nõmmela | BEAT Cycling Club | s.t. |
| 19 | Bert De Backer | Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 20 | Jérémy Lecroq | Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 21 | Jonas Koch | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 22 | Hugo Hofstetter | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 23 | Kenny Dehaes | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 24 | Mark McNally | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 25 | Wim Kleiman | Monkey Town | s.t. |
| 26 | Kevin Van Melsen | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 27 | Luuc Bugter | Delta Cycling Rotterdam | s.t. |
| 28 | Jonas Aaen | Riwal-CeramicSpeed | s.t. |
| 29 | Piotr Havik | BEAT Cycling Club | s.t. |
| 30 | Piet Allegaert | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 31 | Jimmy Turgis | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 32 | Peter Schulting | Monkey Town | s.t. |
| 33 | Dmitry Kozonchuk | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 34 | James Lowsley Williams | Canyon-Eisberg | s.t. |
| 35 | Andreas Stokbro | Riwal-CeramicSpeed | s.t. |
| 36 | Justin Timmermans | Delta Cycling Rotterdam | s.t. |
| 37 | Frederik Backaert | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 38 | Alan Banaszek | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 39 | Andrew Fenn | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 40 | Beau Duvigneau | Vlasman Cycling | s.t. |
| 41 | Benjamin Perry | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 42 | Maarten de Jonge | Monkey Town | s.t. |
| 43 | Nikolai Trussov | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 44 | Kamil Gradek | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 45 | Simone Antonini | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 46 | Stijn Devolder | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 47 | Jaap Kooijman | Vlasman Cycling | s.t. |
| 48 | Kenneth Van Rooy | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 49 | Pascal Eenkhoorn | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 50 | Stijn Steels | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 51 | Ivar Slik | Monkey Town | s.t. |
| 52 | Tobias Kongstad | Riwal-CeramicSpeed | s.t. |
| 53 | Koen Bouwman | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 54 | Jan-Willem van Schip | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 55 | Alex Cataford | UnitedHealthcare | s.t. |
| 56 | Martijn Budding | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 57 | Brian van Goethem | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 58 | Anthony Turgis | Cofidis | +35'' |
| 59 | Jimmy Duquennoy | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | +36'' |
| 60 | Antoine Warnier | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 61 | Andreas Kron | Riwal-CeramicSpeed | +41'' |
| 62 | Aimé De Gendt | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +49'' |
| 63 | Dimitri Claeys | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 64 | Adam Blythe | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 65 | Adriaan Janssen | Delta Cycling Rotterdam | +1' 23'' |
| 66 | Dennis van der Horst | Metec-TKH | s.t. |
| 67 | Lawrence Naesen | Lotto-Soudal | +1' 42'' |
| 68 | Jetse Bol | Netherlands | +2' 20'' |
| 69 | Frederik Frison | Lotto-Soudal | +2' 46'' |
| 70 | Michael Goolaerts | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 71 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Cofidis | +7' 22'' |
| 72 | Rens Tulner | Delta Cycling Rotterdam | s.t. |
| 73 | Senne Leysen | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 74 | Kelvin van den Dool | Vlasman Cycling | +7' 24'' |
| 75 | Jasper Schouten | Alecto Cycling | s.t. |
| 76 | Boris Vallée | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 77 | Nahom Desale | BEAT Cycling Club | s.t. |
| 78 | Folkert Oostra | Alecto Cycling | s.t. |
| 79 | Max Stedman | Canyon-Eisberg | s.t. |
| 80 | Awet Gebremedhin | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 81 | Jasper de Laat | Metec-TKH | s.t. |
| 82 | Sander Armée | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 83 | René Hooghiemster | Alecto Cycling | s.t. |
| 84 | Kamil Malecki | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 85 | Roy Goldstein | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 86 | Daniel Turek | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 87 | Elias Van Breussegem | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 88 | James Shaw | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 89 | Alex Mengoulas | BEAT Cycling Club | s.t. |
| 90 | Rémy Mertz | Lotto-Soudal | +7' 28'' |
| 91 | David Dekker | Metec-TKH | s.t. |
| 92 | Aidis Kruopis | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +7' 31'' |
| 93 | Dexter Gardias | Canyon-Eisberg | s.t. |
| 94 | Tijmen Eising | Metec-TKH | s.t. |
| 95 | Julien Stassen | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 96 | Joost van der Burg | Vlasman Cycling | +7' 34'' |
| 97 | Travis McCabe | UnitedHealthcare | +7' 35'' |
| 98 | Hamish Schreurs | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 99 | Tanner Putt | UnitedHealthcare | s.t. |
| 100 | Conor Dunne | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 101 | Ludwig De Winter | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | +7' 43'' |
| 102 | Ludovic Robeet | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |