The rider from Verona, in a breakaway from the start, only surrendered to Yentl Vandevelde

‘s-Heerenhoek, 8 June 2023 – Luck was lacking, not courage. The fifth second place in the season came for Team corratec – Selle Italia, which in the first stage of the ZLM Tour saw Alexander Konychev come close to the first win of his career.

The rider from Verona was able to enter the breakaway of eight riders after a real 30 kms battle, also due to the strong wind that characterised the entire stage. What seemed to be an action with little chance, with the main group approaching under 2′ already with 100 km to go, took more and more gap in the final 20 km.

With the peloton cut off, Yentl Vandevelde launched himself into the attack with 2 km to go, followed a few moments later by our own Konychev. The comeback in the final metres was not enough for the Veronese rider, who had to settle with the best result of his career among the professionals.

“Since the Giro d’Italia I had to fight with a flu that seemed not to go away. – said Konychev after the finish – I tried to rest as much as possible and now I am recovering. I finally had good feelings today. Too bad about the finish because it was a matter of moments. Hats off to Yentl, I will definitely try again.”

For Konychev there is also an important progression in the general classification where he sits now in 14th place, 27″ behind leader Nils Eekhoff. Tomorrow Stage 2 will go from Schijndel to Buchten.

#NeverGiveUp