If Saturday's Volta NXT Classic tournament in and around Eijsden is a precursor to the Alpecin-Deceuninck Tour of Flanders, the Belgian team could actually enjoy some champagne on Sunday evening. Timo Kilic completed it with great success in the southernmost part of Dutch Limburg.
Alpecin-Deceuninck has been one of the most focused teams at the start of the Volta NXT Classic, although it still has two people to move to the Tour of Flanders with Axel Laurance and Oscar Riesebeek. Lars Boven has also disappeared from the starting lineup, but that does not mean that the team started with less ambition at Diepstraat in Eijsden.
Although most eyes were directed at the powerful force of defending champion Caden Groves, Alpecin Desoninck was present from the beginning. Groves did not finish the race in the end, while the #3 tire of German stalwart Maurice Ballerstedt also returned to the team bus very early.
Other men carried the banner, the Austrian Tobias Baer, the German Henri Uhlig and thus Kelisch in the lead. With three men, they participated in the decisive battle, after which they gained the advantage. Kilic was already considered one of the fastest men in the group, but decided to respond to the rush of local hero Pascal Einkhorn.
“At that moment I thought: Now I just have to jump,” Kilic said afterwards. “Behind me in this situation there were two of my team-mates to stop things, but it is also true that the chance in a group of two is greater than in a group of eight drivers,” the racer intelligently calculated afterwards.
Winner Kilic can happily take the seat on Sunday
In doing so, he retained the Volta NXT Classic Cup as part of the Roodhoofts lineup. 'our secret? I don't know, but the course is really suitable for racing. “That's also what we stand for as a team, which is racing and driving offensively,” the winner said. “It's always nice to win, but the way the win is achieved is absolutely amazing.”
“We can be proud of ourselves,” Kilic patted himself and his teammates on the back. “The race was under control all the time and we always had someone in the groups. At the end we were still with three riders out of eight, so as a team we had a very good race.
In the end, Kilic ended up with Einkhorn in front, who refused to take charge and put his attack in the final kilometre. “I had to maintain the high pace until the last kilometre, but it was like a game of poker. He didn't want to drive, that was clear. But with the tailwind I was able to get off the wheel and use my speed.”
The Belgian can happily sit back on Sunday watching leader Mathieu van der Poel bid for a Tour of Flanders win, knowing he has already completed his job this weekend. “I grabbed this opportunity with both hands, which is something I now feel very happy about.”
