After a strong team display in controlling the race and preparing the stage for a bunch sprint, Max Walscheid (GER) finished off the Tour of Denmark in style for Team Sunweb, sprinting to stage 5 victory, his first win of the season which re-confirms his sprint talent.
The stage started with an early break of seven riders building a steady lead that grew to over five minutes before the peloton started to reign in their advantage. It wasn’t until the race hit the finishing circuit – to be completed eight times – that the pace behind really picked up, with Team Sunweb lining out the bunch in the final 25km to bring the break back to within touching distance. Keeping the race under control, Team Sunweb then put Walscheid in a perfect position to finish off the stage with the win.
Walscheid said after his podium duties: “It was a victory where the whole team took part. We took the initiative, showed confidence in ourselves and believed in the lead out as well as in my sprint. It was a big, big effort to catch seven guys back with just Ramon [Sinkeldam] and Max [Kanter] chasing, and Lennard [Kamna] covering attacks.
“The timing in the leadout was really crucial, with a downhill towards the last corner. With Roy’s [Curvers] calmness and Phil’s [Bauhaus] strength in the last 500m we made it first/second through the last corner. After a strong leadout and with 50m to go I knew I would win and took it almost too easy, nearly a big mistake which I could still correct to give the team the result we earned.”
Team Sunweb coach Morten Bennekou: “It was a very nice day for the team today because all six riders really contributed with strong efforts. We managed to keep control with the breakaway so that they were caught with only 5km to go and after that we brought Max into a perfect position from where he won the sprint. With two podium spots and a fifth place on the GC we can then look back on a succesfull week in Denmark.”
