In Zandvoorde werd er gestart met 101 nieuwelingen voor 12 ronden van 5,4km. De wedstrijd werd gewonnen door de Brit Benjamin Peatfield. Milan De Meester wint de pelotonsprint voor de 2e plaats.
"We stonden met 101 aan de start. Er was veel wind en een bergje op het einde. Er werd direct goed doorgereden, maar in de smalle baantjes viel het altijd stil. Halfweg koers gaat er een Brit vandoor en niemand reageert. Zelf had ik het pas 2 ronden later door dat er iemand weg was, maar dan had hij al teveel voorsprong. Zelf heb ik een paar keer geprobeerd maar het kwam altijd terug bij elkaaar. De laatste ronde trokken de Britten de sprint aan en daar heb ik een beetje van kunnen profiteren en heb dan nog gemakkelijk de sprint voor de 2e plaats gewonnen. Ook wel een goeie ploeg gezien vandaag!": aldus Milan.
Benjamin Peatfield : "So the race started fast and I was in a bad position maybe five rows back. Attacks were going everywhere but I kept calm and slowly got myself to the front by the end of the first lap. Three laps in I was on a riders wheel that attacked so I followed and three others joined, by the top of the small incline they sat up and that was the moment I attacked I stuck it in the right hand gutter and went for it. It was hard out there on my own but I felt strong so I pressed on. The gap was going out at one point it reached 1 minute 15 seconds at this point I knew I could win if I rode cleverly. I slowed up slightly with three to go so I could save myself for the final and fastest lap. Coming into the final lap I could see attacks going from the group and that they were gaining rapidly, so I put my head down and smashed it down the straight after the finish however they were still gaining and the car was taken out of the gap. I knew they were gaining quick but I never gave up and saved some energy for the head wind section and managed to bring the gap back out to 30 seconds and take the win. It’s my first international win and I am really happy with the result, hopefully I will be able to replicate today’s win tomorrow at my last race of the weekend.
" I haven’t yet won a race yet at home as I haven’t raced any local races, however I placed 2nd and 3rd at the first round of the HSBC uk national series , and more recently two seconds and a third at the youth tour of Scotland and also 9th on gc. I won the green sprint jersey and spent a day in the yellow leaders jersey. The youth tour of Scotland is the biggest youth stage race in the Uk"
