Floris Van Tricht sprinted to third place at Ronde van Limburg after a good team performance on Belgian roads.

On a day that proved less selective than expected, the race ultimately came down to a fast sprint finish in Tongeren, with NSN well positioned throughout to play a role in the finale.

The team remained attentive across the key moments of the race, covering the important moves and ensuring they were represented as the race developed. With around 15 kilometers to go, Jens Verbrugghe launched an attack in an attempt to split the race, but the move was brought back as the peloton regrouped heading into the final.

From there, the focus shifted to setting up Van Tricht for the sprint. In a fast and technical run-in, the Belgian found himself coming from deep in the group, but produced an impressive effort in the closing meters. Van Tricht surged forward, closing the gap to Tim Merlier (SOQ) and sprinting his way onto the podium with a strong third-place finish.

Floris Van Tricht said: “I’m really happy with this. The team gave me the chance to go for my own sprint, and that gave me a lot of confidence. I felt really supported throughout the day, and I also felt really good on the last lap, so I believed I could do a good sprint.

“I was a bit too far back coming out of the last corner, so I had to start from really far out. I think I went with around 400 meters to go, on the left into the wind, and I started coming past riders. Then, with around 100 meters to go, I realized I could make the podium, and that was really special for me.

“The last few weeks had not gone as I hoped. My expectations were higher than what I managed in the Classics, so it feels really good to finally show that I can compete with these guys, even in a sprint. I’m not a pure sprinter, but on a good day, with the support of the team, I can do nice things like today.”

Sports Director Guy Sagiv said: “The plan was to go into the final with Floris, give him the opportunity to sprint and test his legs, and everything went according to plan.

“All the guys did really well. We covered the important moves, and Jens was very strong today. In the end, the race was not as aggressive as we expected, because the weather conditions were very nice, which is unusual for Belgium.

“But in the end, it came down to the expected sprint, and Floris came from far. He had really good legs and managed to finish third.”