Hulst, August 12th 2019 – Sunny and warm day at the start line in Beveren was a nice welcome to the Binck Bank Tour, but soon after the start the rain started and kept influencing the race. From the start, 4 riders took off and had a maximal advantage of 3 minutes, but peloton only managed to catch them 3km to go. It was also interesting in the middle of the race when the wind plays its part and split the peloton in half, leaving about 20 riders behind. At the same time, our Phil Bauhaus had flat time on one of the cobblestone sections and it took a monster effort from him, Bole and Wang to pull him back into the main peloton. About the time breakaway was caught Sieberg and Haussler came to the front of the peloton and made sure Phil is in position for the final sprint. About 400 meters to go he got blocked inside the barriers but managed to finish 5th.
Phil Bauhaus said having a flat tire didn’t affect him and added: "It was a bad moment; the peloton was quite split but I managed to come back. At the end it was good, I felt good, I was behind Heinrich, then I wanted to jump on Grunewegen’s wheel but I lost the fight to Bennet, then I was too far back. The speed was good but the finish came to early. Then the team did a great job the whole race. I’m not happy with 5th place, but it’s nice to see that the legs are good for the next few stages".
Our sports director Tristan Hoffman said: "It was a stressful race because of rain, wind, a lot of corners, some cobblestone sections, fight for golden rush points, and a top of that Phil had a flat tire. Bad thing was that Bole and Wang were caught in the last group in a difficult moment of the race, but good about that was that they managed to pull that group and Bauhaus to the main peloton, so Phil could do the sprint. Phil’s 5th place is not bad, not super good, but I’m happy as I saw the team in front at crucial moments, riders were focused and we were competitive today. A podium would be nice, but it is what it is.”
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