Racing
Marijn van den Berg wins final stage and GC at Pays de la Loire Tour
Dutch sprinter takes second stage win to secure GC
April 5, 2024
Marijn van den Berg wins the general classification at the Pays de la Loire Tour after sprinting for the final stage win.
On today’s final stage, the entire squad went all in for Marijn. With less than six kilometers to go, Ben Healy came to the front and took a massive pull, quickly splintering the peloton. Marijn stayed safely tucked on his teammate’s wheel as Ben gave 100 percent through the closing kilometers. With two hundred meters to go and rounding the final corner, the Irish champion pulled off as Marijn kicked. Immediately, the Dutch sprinter took the lead, maintaining it all the way to the finish line. He gave a bike throw just to be sure, but Marijn spread his arms in celebration, knowing full well he had taken the stage and the overall win for his teammates.
Sport director Sebastian Langeveld knew that the GC was a possibility for the team so he sent the squad in search of bonus seconds for Marijn, which he secured.
“There was a bit of action but the squad did really well,” Sebastian said. “They stuck to the plan and they did really well keeping it all together and always communicating with each other. This was a course that Marijn can handle really well so in the end it was a bonus to take the overall win in addition to the stage. All the guys did really great, every single one of them. In the end, it was such a luxury to have a rider like Ben leading out Marijn for the entire last five kilometers.”
In addition to two stage wins and the overall title, Marijn earned the sprinter’s jersey and the squad won the team competition.
"I didn’t do it by myself, that’s for sure!" Marijn said after the podium ceremony. "This win is more a team victory than one of my own. I’ve never seen anything like it before, how we pulled that off as a team. We had to take the bonus sprint and Jardi pulled until there. The early break went and he pulled that all by himself too, so he was super important. Then on the local lap, Darren did the first few laps and then Lukas took over so they were just as important as Ben was on the last lap. Everybody put in the same effort today and then Ben did a really incredible lead out. I just did the sprint, that was the only thing I had to do."
Congratulations to the entire squad on a job well done at the Pays de la Loire Tour this week!