Mathieu Kockelmann has claimed the very first victory for Lotto-Intermarché. In the second stage of Étoile de Bessèges, he was faster than Dylan Groenewegen and Matteo Moschetti in a dramatic sprint finish, with a photo finish needed to determine the winner. “I surprised myself.”
“It actually wasn’t the plan for me to go for the win,” a delighted Mathieu Kockelmann explained. “I was supposed to lead out Matys Grisel, as agreed in the pre-stage meeting. I came through in front, launched my sprint and expected him to come past me in the final 10 metres. I never looked back and just kept going… until it turned out I had crossed the line first (laughs). Luckily, I still had the reflex to throw my bike at the line, which allowed me to beat Groenewegen. I’m amazed.”
Kockelmann and Matys Grisel ultimately lost sight of each other in the chaos of the sprint, but that did nothing to dampen the celebrations. “I may have won, but this was absolutely a team effort. It poured with rain all day, everyone fought incredibly hard. To be able to crown that with the first victory for this new team is truly wonderful.”
After Steffen De Schuyteneer’s second place at the GP La Marseillaise earlier this week, this victory means a great deal to the young riders of Lotto-Intermarché. “Things are going really well within this team- I could already feel that last weekend. When you sense something like that, it’s just a matter of waiting. You know the moment will come. And here it is! We’re currently fourth and fifth in the general classification, and we’ll now try to defend those positions.”
