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Fast sprints and epic solos
The start of the 57th European Junior Cycling Tour Assen was an early one. There were 17 riders at the start line for the first race at 8.15am. Harrison Northover took home the win and the yellow jersey in category 1. In category 2 it was Vinny Jansen who beat Edward Nicholls in a sprint á deux. His cousin Tim Jansen gave Noordwesthoek club its second win of the day in category 3.
The sun was shining exuberantly. It was a stark contrast to 2023 when it was cold and rainy on the opening day. The good weather inspired Jostein Smit (nieuwelingen-2009) and Marius Engelbrecht Linde (nieuwelingen-2008) to go for a fantastic solo win. Jostein took over a minute on the competition after a really strong ride where he even had to deal with a mechanical.
In category 7 Joost Vrij was very active. He attacked and led the race solo for a while but was caught by four chasers. In that sprint the PRC Delta rider still had the energy to sprint towards his first win of the week and the yellow jersey.
Category 4 is a category with mostly boys but that didn’t stop Clara Brendel. The German rider is one of only nine girls in the race. She beat Freddie Watson and Blake Knight in a powerful sprint.
There is a headwind in the finish straight but that was no problem for Dutch U17 champion Imke Menting. She went for a long sprint. Jeremy Leung from Hong Kong did the same in his race. His category 5 win was the first win for Hong Kong in the 57 editions of the race.
The last three categories raced in high temperatures. Luckily there was enough ice cream available at the snack stand, as well as fries with mayonnaise of course.
In the junior women category, the pace was super high. The sprints for green were a thrilling battle with different winners in five sprints. In the end Maureen Abma won the green jersey but she won’t wear that because she has yellow!
Category 6, our biggest group, had a fast start with sadly some crashes as well. The peloton stayed together for the entire race and Jens Dekkers won the bunch sprint. And finally the biggest guys, our junior-men, went off for their race in Assen. Sven van der Wal and Antoine Quint made it a duo time trial after an early attack. It was Antoine who took home the win.
After the last category the winners were applauded at Hotel De Jonge where we had a lovely, sunny opening ceremony. Find all the results from day one here.