Incredible teamwork in CRO Race as Tobias Lund Andresen finishes off fantastic Team dsm-firmenich PostNL ride

Taking their second win of October already, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL produced a brilliant display of teamwork to guide Tobias Lund Andresen over the challenging climbs, before he repaid the team’s support with an excellent win at CRO Race.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL attacked the queen stage at CRO Race with a plan to bring fifth-on-GC Lund Andresen into a position to fight for the stage win. However, between them and that goal was the challenging Poklon ascent, where a strong tempo was set by the climbers. The team made sure they were represented in the front with Warren Barguil who covered the moves, while the rest of the team rode at a tempo Lund Andresen was comfortable with. Once over the top, a fierce chase ensued and everyone did their role expertly to bring Lund Andresen back; meaning the team had five riders left in the reduced peloton of around 30. In the final the team controlled late attacks, before positioning Lund Andresen at the front for the punchy cobbled climb to the line. Measuring his effort perfectly, Lund Andresen surged past his competitors in the closing 50 metres, shouting with delight as he crossed the line. Doing so, he could celebrate what is the Men’s program’s 21st win of the season, and the 17th to come from a Development program rider – an incredible achievement.
A jubilant Lund Andresen said: “It feels amazing, I didn’t really expect this. The team put a lot of faith in me. I didn’t win today; it was my team. From the plans we made before the start, to the pacing we did on the climb and my teammates bringing me back. I would never have been there if it wasn’t for the guys. Today I had trust and faith in what we were trying to do. I was dropped by quite a bit on the big mountain, but the guys stuck with me and brought me back. I think today is one of the best days I’ve had on the bike. In the final I knew I had to do my own pace on the cobbles as I did the race last year so knew what to expect. When you see the finish line and you’re a sprinter like me, then you don’t feel your legs anymore and just go. I’m so happy to have been able to finish it off.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Luke Roberts continued: “We knew it was going to be a challenge to get Tobi over the climb today. He was sitting in a good position in fifth on GC, but we expected a few teams and riders to really push on up the mountain. Yet, we knew if we could get him over it and into the first group then we had a good shot at the stage result. So, we made the plan to drop guys back with him on the climb, pace the climb at his tempo and get him to the top as fast as we could. We had Warren covering the guys who pushed on at the front, so we were always represented there, which was also good for us, but our goal was to get Tobi back. All the guys did a fantastic job, I don’t want to name names as everyone really chipped in for this one and that makes it all the more special. They brought him back to the front, put him in the place he needed to be for the sprint, and he did an awesome job to finish it off. That win feels incredible, teamwork like that feels fantastic so we are all pretty happy here.”