The Men’s program of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL was back in action today at Bredene Koksijde Classic, for more racing on Belgian roads. From the first kilometers onwards, there was no quiet moment for the peloton. Throughout the whole day, the wind caused echelons and chaos, leading to the race splitting into pieces multiple times. However, the team remained calm and was always present in the front groups when the race split. Inside the final 30 kilometers, the first two larger groups came back together, but the attacks kept flying. While the team did a good job covering the moves, others brought Emil Liepins into a good position for the sprint. He then launched his final push to the line and sprinted to a respectable sixth place for the team.
Speaking after the race, Liepins said: “Today was a really hectic and stressful race, and we had to go full throttle from the beginning. In the end, the team was on point, and we did a good job with positioning. In the final, there was a really strong headwind, and I was second wheel going into the final straight. I was waiting for the others to open the sprint, then they launched it, and I got squeezed a bit, making it hard to fight for the win. But we can be really happy with our performance today.”