CYCLING – Bauke Mollema surprisingly won the Dutch Time Trial Champion in Emmen. The Groninger finished in 33.03. Time trial specialist Dumoulin finished second, Daan Hoole was third. Assenaar Elmar Reinders finished fifth in 33.54 over the distance of a total of 30 kilometers.
Tom Dumoulin was the big favorite in advance. He previously won the Dutch Time Trial Championships in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021. De Limburger announced at the beginning of this month that he will stop cycling after this season.
Whoever thought that Dumoulin would now be freed from all worries, was wrong. In the first interim, an unleashed Mollema was ten seconds faster than Dumoulin. Mollema kept that lead until the end. Mollema was more than half a minute faster than Dumoulin who had an end time of 33.34
Afterwards, Mollema was beaming in front of the cameras. It was not only the first time that he won the Dutch National Time Trial Championship. It was also his first time competing in the National Time Trial Championship. “I really set my sights on it. This is one of my most beautiful victories of my career. Also because it comes so unexpectedly. I really did not expect this.”
Assenaar Danny van der Tuuk finished twelfth in a time of 34.39. Even better was the time of Elmar Reinders who managed to seize the fifth place.