Strong teamwork sees Pavel Bittner sprint to 2nd at rainy GP Criquielion

Some grim and miserable conditions awaited the peloton this afternoon in Belgium at GP Criquielion, where the guys rallied around each other well with Pavel Bittner ultimately sprinting to a strong second place finish.

Leaving the start, the team was always sharp and made sure to be at the front for any potential danger, but things quickly settled into a rhythm with a break up the road. Coming into the hillier lap circuit in the finale the pace ramped up and those ahead were caught, with the attacks flying from the bunch. Some quick thinking, and mechanic skills, by Tim Naberman saw him swap a wheel with Bittner who then managed to fight back to the group just as things exploded. In the meantime Niklas Märkl was riding strongly to cover the attacks and was present in a potentially dangerous move that was reeled in. Coming into the final the attacks continued and unfortunately a duo slipped away with Segaert just holding on for the win, while Bittner showed a quick turn of speed and launched from the peloton, to take his first one-day pro-level podium with second place.

After the finish Bittner expressed: “Today was a really challenging day with the weather but we came into the race with the clear goal that I would be the sprint finisher in the final. I felt really, really good today and the guys did a good job in the last part of the race to be in position. The dream almost fell apart at 20 kilometres to go where I had a rear wheel puncture but I was quickly able to change it with Tim. I went full gas to then chase back and made it back to the group on the second climb. Niklas did a really good job in the final to cover some moves. I still had some good legs for the sprint. There was still one guy, Segaert, out in front so I only managed to win the bunch sprint, but I think it was a good day and tomorrow is another chance.”

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Roy Curvers added: “It was a hectic final for us with three of our team crashing; but the guys fought well to come back in contention again. We wanted to be present in moves when the bunch would explode in the hill zone but just when the bunch was splitting into pieces there, Pavel punctured. Luckily, Tim had some hidden mechanic skills and gave Pavel his wheel so he could come back quickly. We were still present in a move with Niklas, which was good, but that didn’t come to be today. After the hill zone there was a bunch of about 40 guys together so from there on we played Pavel’s card for a sprint. It’s a shame that Segaert slipped away because Pavel was the fastest of the bunch but today that meant second place. It was really nice to see that in all the hectic moments and chaos that the guys kept calm and communicating with each other so they could make this result in the end. We’ll go for it again tomorrow.”