ZLM Tour 2023 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

June 9, 2023

ZLM Tour 2023 – Stage 2 – Schijndel – Buchten : 184,1 km

The ZLM Tour is a five-day stage race held annually in the southern Netherlands and Belgium. Since 2020, the race has been part of the UCI’s second-tier, the ProSeries. The race debuted back in 1987 but up until 1996 it was run as an amateur event. Just from the list of former winners you can guess the kind of terrain that the race encompasses. There are some hills for the riders to negotiate over the four to five days of racing, but the general classification is often decided by gaps in the opening individual time trial/prologue and bonus seconds obtained in the bunch sprints on the flatter stages. Winds blowing in from the North Sea also play a major role in determining the overall winner.

Jakub Mareczko (Alpecin-Deceuninck) powered to victory on stage 2 of the ZLM Tour, out-pacing Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) in a tight finish in Buchten. Mareczko’s lead-out man Robbe Ghys finished third.

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) is still looking for a victory in the stage race after suffering a mechanical inside the final two kilometres and missing out on the sprint.

Kooij moved into the race lead thanks to the time bonus for second place as the overnight leader Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM) missed out.

Results :