Skil Shimano rider takes both stages en route to overall victory
Kenny van Hummel of the Skil Shimano team won the Ronde van Drenthe overall classification, after sprinting to two stage victories. Van Hummel beat Danilo Napolitano and Sacha Modolo after 181 kilometers. Modolo had sprinted to second place the day before, netting him a runner-up spot in the overall. Napolitano was third overall, with Adam Blythe in fourth.
Van Hummel had a tough battle with the 23-percent Vamberg, to be done three times. The Belgian was dropped a couple of times, but slipped back into the peloton in time for the final dash to the line. “If I wanted to win, I had to win the stage again,” Van Hummel said to depers.nl. “The team had to work really hard to keep it all together and to guide me to victory. They did it perfectly.”
Sprinter Van Hummel could not have asked for a better result. “For me personally it is really nice to start this phase of the season with two sprint wins. That gives me confidence for the coming period, where, among others, I will ride the Tour of Turkey and the Tour of Belgium.”
Van Hummel had to fight hard for victory on the Vamberg climb. He was dropped on the first of three ascents, but managed to slip into a group that rejoined the peloton. On the last time up the Vamberg, Omega Pharma-Lotto accelerated hard in a quest to put Blythe in the leader’s jersey.
A group of almost a dozen riders formed, including Modolo and Napolitano, with around ten kilometers to go. The attempt was neutralized four kilometers from the line. Van Hummel still had two teammates for the sprint, giving him a perfect lead-out. Van Hummel jumped off his bike after the finish and bowed towards Marcel Kittel. Kittel had launched the sprint for Van Hummel and even managed to take fourth place.
Modolo had protested against Van Hummel’s win on stage one, but was turned down. Van Hummel himself was pleased with the win on Friday. “Starting to feel pretty good in the sprint again. And it’s only halfway April…” he posted on twitter.
Hummel had finished second in the Ronde van Drenthe in 2009, when it was held as a one-day race. This year, he was second in the Handzame Classic and had several top ten finishes in the Tour of Langkawi.