Harm Vanhoucke Takes Second Place at Romanian Sibiu Tour
Harm Vanhoucke of Lotto Soudal secured a second-place finish in the four-day Romanian Sibiu Tour. Meanwhile, Giovanni Aleotti of Bora-Hansgrohe claimed the overall win for the second year in a row. Vanhoucke’s strong performance in the queen stage and mountain time trial contributed to his impressive result. Reflecting on the race, Vanhoucke expressed satisfaction with his performance and emphasized the confidence it has given him for future goals.
“Despite a second place overall, I end this Sibiu Tour with a good feeling. After a difficult Giro it is nice to be up there again. This gives me confidence and makes sure I can work towards future goals with a good feeling,” said Harm Vanhoucke.
The challenging queen stage, which featured a grueling 20-kilometer climb to Lake Bâlea, proved to be a key test for contenders like Vanhoucke. While he finished second behind Italian rider Aleotti, Vanhoucke commended his team’s support and his own strength during the stage.
“The team protected me really well during that stage and made sure I could start the climb without losing energy before. I felt strong and after several attacks, we could ride away with three guys. Uijtdebroeks rode full gas for his teammate Aleotti and in the sprint, the Italian was clearly a bit faster. That is why I could not be disappointed to be missing out on the stage win,” Vanhoucke explained.
In the mountain time trial, Vanhoucke secured a third-place finish, solidifying his second place overall. He credited his strong performance in the time trial to giving his all on the course. During the final stage, Vanhoucke’s team worked diligently to keep him in a good position, allowing him to finish safely in the bunch and maintain his second place on the general classification.
“I gave my all during the time trial, which resulted in a third place. During the closing stage, the team again did a great job to keep me in front with the technical finish in mind. I managed to finish safely inside the bunch and could step onto the podium as second on GC,” Vanhoucke concluded.
