2016 Nokere Koerse (HC), Belgium

71st edition: Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Nokere Koerse podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition

Deinze - Nokere, 199.5 km

Timothy Dupont (center, in black) just wins the 2016 Nokere koerse

The Race: Here's the story from LottoNL-Jumbo, team of third-place Dylan Groenewegen.

Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to third place in the Nokere Koerse on Wednesday. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s fast man had to come from far back in the sprint on Nokere Berg, which made it almost impossible to win the race. Timothy Dupont (Veranda’s Willems) grabbed the victory.

Team LottoNL-Jumbo took the hammer in its hands in the final part of the Nokere Koerse. To give sprinter Dylan Groenewegen the chance to win, the Dutch team used some riders already early on in the final to control the peloton.

“We started with only seven riders and after we had to take control, there weren’t many men left for the sprint lead-out,” Groenewegen said after the race. He was on his own during the final kilometres, so he had to prepare the spring by himself.

“I came from the 40th position. That was too far from behind to win the race. I can only blame myself for that. This finish wasn’t my cup, as well. I prefer sprints at a high pace. This third place was the best I could do in this sprint, even if I wanted to win this race.”

“With Dylan, we had the race’s favourite in our team,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman added. “I think that we handled that well as a team. There was a lot of wind and so it was possible that the peloton would break apart into echelons. We kept control and made sure that the race would end up in a bunch sprint. The team spent a lot energy on that part. We were aggressive and sharp.”

Groenewegen’s own mistake resulted in the missed opportunity. “The turn to the right, with 2.5 kilometres to go was a key point,” Zeeman said. “Dylan gave another rider too much space there so he lost Robert Wagner’s wheel. Robert was going to lead him out and he was strong enough to accomplish that. They were trying to find each other afterwards so Dylan could regain his position, but they failed. Still it’s great that Dylan was able to make up so many positions to finish third. That didn’t initially look possible.”

Complete Results:

199.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.582 km/hr

1	Timothy Dupont	Veranda's Willems	4h 34' 39''
2	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Joker	s.t.
3	Dylan Groenewegen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
4	Baptiste Planckaert	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
5	Yauheni Hutarovich	Fortuneo-Vital Concept	s.t.
6	Michel Kreder	Roompot Oranje Peloton	s.t.
7	Gerry Druyts	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
8	Gianni Moscon	Sky	s.t.
9	Eduard-Michael Grosu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
10	Kenny Dehaes	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
11	Bert Van Lerberghe	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
12	Borut Božic	Cofidis	s.t.
13	Scott Thwaites	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
14	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
15	Rick Zabel	BMC	s.t.
16	Davide Martinelli	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
17	Ivan Savitsky	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
18	Gijs Van Hoecke	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
19	Roy Jans	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
20	Alexander Geuens	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
21	Danny van Poppel	Sky	s.t.
22	Tosh Van der Sande	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
23	Marc Sarreau	FDJ	s.t.
24	Amund Grøndahl	Joker	s.t.
25	Aidis Kruopis	Veranda's Willems	s.t.
26	Lukasz Wisniowski	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
27	Andrew Fenn	Sky	s.t.
28	Karol Domagalski	One Pro Cycling	s.t.
29	Alberto Cecchin	Roth	s.t.
30	Julien Stassen	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
31	Juraj Sagan	Tinkoff	s.t.
32	Frédérique Robert	Crelan Vastgoedservice	+6''
33	Roman Maykin	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
34	Bartlomiej Matysiak	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+11''
35	Boris Vallée	Fortuneo-Vital Concept	s.t.
36	Markus Hoelgård	Joker	s.t.
37	Matthias Krizek	Roth	s.t.
38	Fredrik Galta	Delko Marseille Provence	s.t.
39	Nikolai Trussov	Tinkoff	s.t.
40	Grzegorz Stepniak	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
41	Laurens De Plus	Etixx-Quick Step	+16''
42	Tim Declercq	Topsport Vlaanderen	+18''
43	Olivier Chevalier	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
44	Gerald Ciolek	Stölting	s.t.
45	Jay McCarthy	Tinkoff	s.t.
46	Phil Bauhaus	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
47	Robin Sténuit	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
48	Floris De Tier	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
49	Andrea Pasqualon	Roth	+24''
50	ArgentinaLucas Gaday	Roth	+26''
51	Pierpaolo De Negri	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
52	Andrei Solommenikov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+27''
53	Niels De Rooze	Veranclassic	+29''
54	Justin Jules	Veranclassic	s.t.
55	Danilo Napolitano	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
56	Preben Van Hecke	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
57	Rob Ruijgh	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
58	Dylan Teuns	BMC	s.t.
59	Tomasz Kiendys	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
60	Arnaud Gérard	Fortuneo-Vital Concept	s.t.
61	Eliot Lietaer	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
62	Anders Skaarseth	Joker	s.t.
63	Ole Forfang	Joker	s.t.
64	Kevin Van Melsen	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
65	Mamyr Stash	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
66	Jelle Wallays	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
67	Xandro Meurisse	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
68	Jonas Tenbrock	Stölting	s.t.
69	Eryk Laton	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
70	Roman Kustadinchev	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
71	Sean De Bie	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
72	Michael Van Staeyen	Cofidis	s.t.
73	Marcin Bialoblocki	One Pro Cycling	s.t.
74	Jari Verstraeten	Veranda's Willems	s.t.
75	Zakkari Dempster	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
76	Ralf Matzka	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
77	Sébastien Chavanel	FDJ	+36''
78	Bjørn Tore Hoem	Joker	s.t.
79	Joeri Calleeuw	Veranda's Willems	+39''
80	Olivier Le Gac	FDJ	+40''
81	Gert Jõeäär	Cofidis	+40''
82	Iljo Keisse	Etixx-Quick Step	+42''
83	Erik Baška	Tinkoff	+44''
84	Florian Sénéchal	Cofidis	+53''
85	Julien Van den Brande	Veranclassic	+54''
86	Christophe Prémont	Veranda's Willems	s.t.
87	Floris Gerts	BMC	s.t.
88	Christian Knees	Sky	s.t.
89	Adrian Kurek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
90	Loïc Vliegen	BMC	s.t.
91	Gianni Meersman	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
92	Ludwig De Winter	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
93	Huub Duyn	Roompot Oranje Peloton	s.t.
94	Alex Peters	Sky	s.t.
95	Stef Van Zummeren	Veranda's Willems	s.t.
96	Franck Bonnamour	Fortuneo-Vital Concept	s.t.
97	Frederik Backaert	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
98	Twan Castelijns	LottoNL-Jumbo	+59''
99	Martijn Keizer	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
100	Jérôme Baugnies	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
101	Yannick Eijssen	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
102	Asbjørn Kragh	Delko Marseille Provence	s.t.
103	Benoît Jarrier	Fortuneo-Vital Concept	s.t.
104	Tom Bohli	BMC	s.t.
105	Andreas Schillinger	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
106	Michael Gogl	Tinkoff	s.t.
107	Mikel Aristi	Delko Marseille Provence	s.t.
108	Yoann Offredo	FDJ	+1' 12''
109	Ivar Slik	Roompot Oranje Peloton	s.t.
110	Samuel Williams	One Pro Cycling	+1' 14''
111	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-Argon 18	s.t.
112	David Boucher	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
113	Michael Reihs	Stölting	s.t.
114	Sebastian Lander	One Pro Cycling	s.t.
115	Ruben Pols	Topsport Vlaanderen	s.t.
116	Giacomo Tomio	Roth	s.t.
117	Dylan Page	Roth	s.t.
118	Martin Velits	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
119	Pieter Jacobs	Crelan Vastgoedservice	s.t.
120	Koen Bouwman	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
121	Jasper De Buyst	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
122	Dimitri Peyskens	Veranclassic	s.t.
123	Murilo Fischer	FDJ	s.t.
124	Brian van Goethem	Roompot Oranje Peloton	s.t.
125	Riccardo Stacchiotti	Nippo-Vini Fantini	+1' 19''
126	Daniele Colli	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
127	Maarten Wynants	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
128	Gregory Habeaux	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
129	Kevyn Ista	Wallonie Bruxelles	s.t.
130	Tim De Troyer	Veranda's Willems	s.t.
131	Raymond Kreder	Roompot Oranje Peloton	+1' 59''
132	Robert Wagner	LottoNL-Jumbo	+2' 10''
133	Martin Laas	Delko Marseille Provence	+2' 20''
134	Martin Mortensen	One Pro Cycling	+2' 24''
135	Jan Ghyselinck	Veranda's Willems	+2' 40''
136	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	+3' 00''
137	Loïc Chetout	Cofidis	s.t.
138	Mark McNally	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
139	Matthew Goss	One Pro Cycling	+3' 10''
140	Gaëtan Pons	Wallonie Bruxelles	+6' 14''
141	Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier	FDJ	s.t.
142	Reidar Borgersen	Joker	+6' 16''
143	Adrian Aas Stien	Joker	s.t.
144	Yannick Martinez	Delko Marseille Provence	s.t.
145	Viktor Manakov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
146	Michal Kolár	Tinkoff	+6' 19''
147	Pete Williams	One Pro Cycling	s.t.
148	Igor Boev	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.