After Saturday’s strong showing at GP Criquielion where the team took second place with Pavel Bittner, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL lined-up for GP Monseré on Sunday with the same motivated squad. Helping to control the day from the off, the team rode really well as a unit to make sure the break didn’t get too big an advantage and were well positioned for the first splits. However, disaster struck with around 30 kilometres to go when a crash towards the front on the left of the peloton took out Emils Liepins, Bittner and Alex Edmondson; who were all able to remount the bike but consequently were out of contention. It meant that Niklas Märkl was the lone representative for the team in the front group, with the German riding smartly to always be in position heading into the finale in case of any further splits. Unfortunately, it was a hectic and chaotic run-in so Märkl wasn’t able to find a gap to launch his sprint fully, as he led the team over the line in Roselare.
Märkl expressed: “It was a really tough day out again. It was cold and raining from the start and a lot of guys in the bunch struggled with the bad conditions. We rode a pretty good race until the pre-final started, where unfortunately the guys were caught up in or behind the crash. I was then the only guy in the front group. I felt really good today though and believed that I could do it. Unfortunately, I messed it up a bit in the final with my positioning and never found a proper gap to launch my sprint. I’m a bit disappointed and frustrated at that, but that’s also bike racing. The shape is promising and I’m motivated for what’s coming next; that’s what we have to take out of today and keep on going.”