Team dsm-firmenich PostNL take great sprint win with Pavel Bittner at Vuelta a Burgos

The opening day of racing at Vuelta a Burgos saw Team dsm-firmenich PostNL take control throughout the stage, setting things up brilliantly before Pavel Bittner powered to a superb sprint stage win.

Beginning the day with the goal of keeping GC finisher Max Poole safe and going for a stage result with fast finisher Bittner, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rode cohesively as a unit throughout the afternoon. Vigilant for any crosswinds that never materialised, the team was ever present at the front of the peloton, keeping each other out of trouble as the stage progressed. With the early breakaway caught, Poole smartly snagged three bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint before all attention turned to the finale with Bittner. The great positioning work continued and the team was always in the first 15 riders through the many roundabouts, dropping Bittner off towards the front over the last kicker. From there, Bittner used his racing instincts and bided his time, before launching a devastating kick to take his first professional win and the Men’s program’s 14th of the year.

An elated Bittner said: “Today was the first sprint opportunity of the race. The guys and team really believed in me that we could do a nice final and potentially win. Coming into the final 40 kilometres the boys did a really good job, already being in the front early and holding a side of the road so we could be safe and out of trouble. We could hold the left side of the road almost until the final. Then the team placed me really well going over the top of the last drag and onto the descent to the finish. From there I went on intuition a little bit and finally managed to win which feels amazing after so many second places. I’m really happy, and also to pay back the guys for their work and it’s a really good start to the race for us.”

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Callum Ferguson added: “Coming into this race we wanted to be super sharp on the details because we knew the impact it has on the result. Our aim was to sprint with Pavel and keep Max safe throughout the stage. We also had an eye on those bonus seconds and go for them if we could without wasting too much energy, which Max and the guys did well. Then the focus was on being together and feeling that moment to go in the final. The guys really nailed it today, you could see we were together and safe from far out, then in the final they positioned Pavel who just went for it. Pavel is over the moon with it and I think we can be too.”