Team dsm-firmenich PostNL take emphatic Rund um Köln win with Casper van Uden

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL fought brilliantly over the hilly parcours, setting up a fast finale into Köln where sprint finisher Casper van Uden delivered the win after some brilliant teamwork.
Starting with the goal of setting up a sprint, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were alert throughout the day as they took on the rolling hills in the area nearby Köln. Multiple times the race split when the original break was caught, but the team were always represented, with Niklas Märkl marking out dangerous moves. Some strong chasing by Patrick Eddy saw the mid-race attackers caught coming into the city, where Emils Liepiņś took over, positioning Märkl and Van Uden towards the front. Acting as last-man, Märkl initially kept Van Uden’s wheel safe, before coming around him and doing one last pull in sight of the line. Kicking and not looking back, Van Uden opened up at around 200 metres to go with a powerful sprint, catching the competition off guard. Digging deep all the way to the finish, Van Uden was able to celebrate with joy as he crossed the line, winning by over a bike length and rounding out a brilliant Team dsm-firmenich PostNL display thought the race.
An elated Van Uden said: “It was a really good day for us today. The guys did a super good job covering the moves they had to in the hilly area of the race, then they were super strong in the chase from the bunch. In the final we just focused on ourselves and did our own thing. The boys helped me really well and put me in a great position around the last corner. I just then launched and went full-gas to the finish and it was good enough today. I’m really happy to take the win for the team.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Bennie Lambregts continued: “I can only say that the guys executed the plan really well today. We wanted to protect Casper in the hilly zone, where Niklas also rode really strongly and was in the big move to cover that for us. The final break was at first three guys then it was down to two, and we then had four guys in the chasing peloton. We helped to bring it back by pacing on the front and the lead-out the guys did was almost perfectly like we had discussed this morning, and we put Casper in a position that he could sprint for the win: and he did. It was a super job by everyone today so I have to say big compliments to all of the guys.”