CYCLING – The Gouden Pijl van Emmen has three extra Dutch Tour participants at the departure on Sunday 31 July. In addition to Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen, Danny van Poppel (BORA-Hansgrohe), Nils Eekhoff and Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM) can also be expected at the start of the post-Tour criterion. Olympic speed skating champion Kjeld Nuis will also start in Emmen.
Danny van Poppel has already finished in the top-5 twice this Tour de France and so successfully switched from intended sprint attractor of Sam Bennett to a rider who knows how to place himself among the big names in the sprint. In his career, the youngest son of former top sprinter Jean-Paul also won a stage in the Tour of Spain, as well as several one-day races.
Nils Eekhoff put himself in the spotlight in Harrogate in Britain in 2019 by being the first to cross the line of the World U23 Championships. His joy was short-lived, as he was later released by the jury. At Team DSM, Eekhoff immediately made himself noticed a year later by finishing second at the Dutch Championships for professionals, where he was able to stay in the track of Mathieu van der Poel the longest. The 24-year-old Eekhoff is currently active in the Tour de France. As a promise he won the Tour of Overijssel as a junior Paris-Roubaix. A rider with possibilities.
His teammate Martijn Tusveld is a valued helper at Team DSM, who was already allowed to ride his second big round of the year, having previously been drafted for the Giro d’Italia. He is also considering adding the Vuelta to this year’s schedule, which will see him contest all the Grand Tours.
Kjeld Nuis earns his spurs as a speed skater, with global and Olympic gold as the highlight. He is no stranger to the cycling peloton, because he rode many classics for John Deere-NWV Groningen in the past.
With Dylan Groenewegen and Fabio Jakobsen as well, Emmen already has five Dutch Tour riders at the start for the time being. In addition, Dutch champion Pascal Eenkhoorn and classic king Niki Terpstra, who won both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, are at the start.