Team dsm-firmenich PostNL take superb 15th win of the season for their Men’s program with Pavel Bittner at Vuelta a Burgos

Rounding out Vuelta a Burgos in spectacular fashion, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rode superbly as a unit during the day, bringing fast-finishing Pavel Bittner into the finale; who duly sprinted to the Men’s program’s 15th win of the season.

Heading into the last stage of Vuelta a Burgos, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL aimed to keep second place on GC secure with Max Poole, before setting up a sprint finish with stage one winner Pavel Bittner. It was a hard chase throughout the day as the breakaway trio kept the peloton honest, but some good teamwork from the squad and a committed chase saw things closed down just before the flamme rouge. From there, the team positioned Bittner expertly who then jumped on the wheel of Garcia Cortina, before producing a devastating kick to come around him before the line. Jubilant as he crossed the line, Bittner celebrates the team’s 15th win of the season with their Men’s program; and the 12th to come from a Development program graduate in 2024 – with Bittner, Oscar Onley, Casper van Uden, Tobias Lund Andresen and Frank van den Broek having all stood on the winner’s step. Alongside the stage win, another Development program graduate, Poole, secured second overall with the team, capping off a brilliant five days of racing in Spain.

Speaking after the stage Bittner said: “Today was another good day for the sprint finish. It was a bit harder than stage one, so we wanted to try and do our best and keep it together. The guys did a really good job in the final and we stayed calm. I was suffering a bit because the race opened up on the climb a bit, but Martijn stayed with me and that helped me a lot, also mentally. Coming into the final we did a good move and with two kilometres to go we were on the front. Then Martijn did a good job with Max and Chris towards the final. I felt really strong so I waited a bit as I knew as it was a headwind sprint. I just launched when I thought was a good moment and managed to win. It feels a bit unreal to pick up a second win and also take second on GC with Max, so the shape and morale is really good in the team ahead of what’s next.”

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Callum Ferguson added: “Today we wanted to keep one eye on the GC with Max, in case there was an opportunity to move up onto that top spot. If not, we then wanted to go all-in for Pavel in the sprint. The guys did a really nice job, especially in the final few kilometres by closing quite a large gap to the break. They dropped Pavel in the perfect position and he could go on to get his second stage win of the week. We also could secure that second on GC with Max, which puts is in a good place and the confidence amongst the guys is good ahead of the next goals. It was a really nice effort from the whole team and a good reward after a strong week.”