Jelte Krijnsen surprises with Druivenkoers win on Q36.5 Pro Cycling debut

Jelte Krijnsen won the 64th edition of the Druivenkoers-Overijse. The Dutchman from Q36.5 Pro Cycling surprised everyone by winning the Overijse on his debut with the Swiss team. Krijnsen pulled away from his fellow escapees on the final stage and stayed well ahead of the chasers Louvel and Berckmoes.

With no less than twenty-nine descents, the grape racers faced, as usual, a lot of vertical meters. Due to the succession of climbs such as the Holstheide (1 km at 5.3%), the Smeysberg (0.4 km at 8.4%), the S-Bocht Overijse (0.7 km at 5.3%), the Spielberg (0.5 km at 6.2%) and the Moskesstraat (0.5 km at 8.4%) in the local rounds, we were waiting for a strong winner who would join Remco Evenepoel in the honor roll, among others, and Victor Campenaerts (last edition).

After an opening stage with several attempts at attack, the quartet seemed to be given space. Lennert Teugels (Bingoal WB), Owen Geleijn (TDT-Unibet), Stijn Appel (BEAT CT) and Hamish McKenzie (Hagens Berman Jayco) were the lucky ones after twenty kilometres of racing. The quartet threatened to become a quintet for a moment, but the chase was waiting for Meindert Weulink (Parkhotel Valkenburg). Lately, when the lead of the leading group briefly flirted with five minutes, the fun did not last long for the quartet. The escapees were caught again a hundred kilometres from the finish.

Big names attack early
With 84 kilometres to go, three of them decided to take their chance, but they were also quickly caught. It turned out that the attack attempt by ten people – including some big names and several pairings – had a better chance of success. Jelte Krijnsen (Q36.5), Hugo Hofstetter and Pierre-André Cotte (Israel-Premier Tech), Emmy De Gendt (Cofidis), Matthijs Lovell and Ginthy Biermans (Arkea Hotels B&B), Gianni Vermeersch and Stan van Tricht (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Liam Slock and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Dstny) were the names.

The lead of the leading group extended to over a minute, while the men’s team-mates at the front defended with several counter-attacks. At the front, Vermeersch tried to escape with an attack in the run-up to the penultimate ascent of Holsted, but the Belgian, who was working for Albesen-Dessuninck, was overtaken by his attacking team-mates 28 kilometres from the finish. The ten seemed to be fighting for victory.

Photo: Cor Voss

Jelte Krijnsen in attack
Hofstetter was the first rider from the leading group to take charge, but the Frenchman was soon joined by Slouk, Van Tricht and Coote. The height and kilometres began to weigh in. Four kilometres from the finish, it was Krijnsen who pulled ahead of his fellow escapees. The other attackers looked at each other, increasing the Dutchman’s lead. Vermeersch and Louvel decided to respond anyway, but the responses came too late. Krijnsen was not caught and moved ahead of Louvel (2nd) and Biermans (3rd). A great start for the Dutchman during his training period in the Q36.5!