Jos van Emden wins third career Dutch time trial title

Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma) won the elite men’s time trial at the Dutch Road Championships for a third time on Wednesday, searing the 42km course in 49:15.

The 38-year-old was 18 seconds faster than silver medalist Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo), 14 years his junior who was third last year. Sjoerd Bax (UAE Team Emirates) was third, 24 seconds back.

Defending champion Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) fell short of a return to the red, white and blue jersey, finishing 40 seconds back in fifth place.

Each of the 32 starters for the elite men rolled down the start ramp in the central square in Elspeet and returned to city to finish on Apeldoornseweg. They covered two laps of 21km each through the relatively flat terrain of central Netherlands, rolling north for 5.5km to Vierhouten, then winding south to Staverden and a return to Elspeet.

Van Emden set the fastest intermediate time after the first lap and then added to his winning margin on the back half.

"I didn't expect this," he said. "Last week at the ZLM Tour, I felt things were going well after my COVID infection in May, so I was ambitious. Still, I didn't think I could become champion, although I realised during the race that I was riding a good time trial. Mathieu Heijboer in the follow car was also enthusiastic. That gave me an extra boost. This victory is fantastic and a highlight in my career.”

Last year Van Emden was fourth at nationals. This year he has competed in five races against the clock in various stage races and his best finish was eighth in the prologue at ZLM Tour in early June.

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