Frank van den Broek speaks of a dream week in Turkey: “I really surprised myself”

The Tour of Turkey was a dream week for DSM-company PostNL. These are the words of the surprising final winner Frank van den Broek, who seized power in the queen stage and did not relinquish the leader’s jersey. “I really surprised myself with my stage victory and the leading position in the general classification,” 23-year-old Van den Broek looks back.

“This was a dream week. We started with a stage win from Fabio and then learned a lot in the second and third stages. And then Tobi started winning,” the young Dutchman refers to Tobias Lund Andresen’s three stage victories. And from the sixth stage onwards, Van den Broek himself defended the lead. “I focused on defending the jersey and the sprint opportunities that were yet to come. It is a shame that the final stage was neutralized, but that was a good choice.”

Van den Broek is the first Dutch final winner of the Tour of Turkey. “I am very happy with the overall victory. This gives me a lot of confidence for the stages to come,” he says on the team website. Sports director Roy Curvers agrees. “We wanted to support Frank as best as possible, with an eye on the rankings, but without pressure or high expectations. This way he could learn what it is like to race as a leader.”

“The fact that it ends with a stage victory and final victory is fantastic,” said Curvers. “We showed our DNA as a team this week. Our teamwork has led to success, we have made good plans and supported our talents, allowing them to discover their opportunities and possibilities. That’s why we can be proud of this week.”

With a stage win by Jakobsen and three victories by Lund Adresen, DSM-Firmenich PostNL recorded four sprint victories. “We have really made progress in our collaboration, especially in the deep finals. We see that the group is growing together and becoming closer,” says the sports director about the sprint train that will soon lead Jakobsen to Giro stage victories.