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<h1>&nbsp;</h1><h1>PRESS SECTION</h1>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h4>Ralph Scherzer</h4><h4>Phone: +49 (0)8035-907 182</h4><h4>Mobile: +43 (0)650 7362378</h4><h4>E-Mail: <a href="mailto:press@bora-hansgrohe.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press@bora-hansgrohe.com</a></h4>&nbsp;

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With its combination of steep climbs and cobbled sectors, Dwars door Vlaanderen presented the final opportunity for the riders to test their legs before the second Monument of the season. With the start in Roesalare and finish in Waregem, the 183.7 km long course featured eleven helligen and eight cobbled sectors. The break went clear early on, but with around 6 km to go, the race came together again before ten riders broke away from the decimated field that contained Nils Politt and Danny van Poppel. The race then opened up again with 4.5km remaining, when Laporte attacked from the leading group and no one was able to follow him. Nils took 10th place while Danny crossed the finish line in 18th. Result 01 C. Laporte &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 4:06:20 02 O. Lazkano &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; +0:15 03 N. Powless &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;+0:15 10 N. Politt &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;+0:15&nbsp;From the Finish Line “It was another tough day. The racing kicked off relatively early and, to be honest, it was very hectic, with a few crashes at key points. Then, unfortunately, Merlier fell in front of us on Berg ten Houte and then the gap opened up heading into the Kanarieberg, which we were then able to close. On the Trieu I just couldn't follow the first group. I noticed that my legs are just a bit heavy from Sunday. Still, I'm happy with a top ten result, especially considering that many of the sprinters were still in my group that raced to the line." - Nils Politt&nbsp;"That's another Classic in the bag. We were present on the climbs, and with the win going to Laporte, we tried to sprint for second place. Nils took tenth in the end, which admittedly wasn't the position that we were fighting for today. But the morale is high and we're still going to head into the next races with confidence." - Jean-Pierre Heynderickx, Sports Director

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Nils Politt in top 10 at Dwars door Vlaanderen

The Classics continued today with Gent-Wevelgem, a race that featured nine hellingen and treacherous cobblestone and gravel sections over nearly 261km. Constant rain, cold temperatures and winds made the race even more difficult. On the first flat 160km, a breakaway went clear, gaining less than a three-minute lead in the first half of the race. Before the Monteberg everything came together again, but it wasn't long before the attacks started to fly, and on the Kemmelberg Van Aert and Laporte attacked. BORA-hansgrohe was represented in the chasing group by Danny van Poppel, Nils Politt and Marco Haller. After the last passage of the Kemmelberg, Nils and Danny were still up there and proceeded to parepare the sprint for third place for Danny. With the victory going to Laporte, the Dutchman took BORA-hansgrohe's first top 10 finish this week in Belgium.&nbsp;Result 01 C. Laporte &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;5:49:39 02 W. Van Aert &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;+0:00 03 S. Vanmarcke &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; +1:56 09 D. Van Poppel &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;+2:04 20 N. Politt &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;+2:04&nbsp;From the Finish Line "With every crossing of the Kemmelberg I actually felt stronger and today I think I had a good chance of a strong placing. After it became clear that the two Jumbo riders could not be brought back, I definitely wanted to fight for a podium place. So it was a shame that we couldn't counter the last few attacks because a better result was then out of reach. But I'm happy that I was able to get our first top 10 finish of the week." - Danny van Poppel&nbsp;"It was a very hard day and the weather in particular wasn't great. It was also a big question of morale to be right up there today. As a team we rode relatively well. We got over the Kemmelberg well the first time, as we positioned ourselves well in the lead up there, and on the last ascent of the Kemmelberg we were still represented by Danny and me. Then we decided that Danny would do the sprint because he is the fastest sprinter between us, and with his ninth place, we put in a solid performance and we can be happy with how it went." - Nils Politt&nbsp;“It was, as we expected, a tough race all day, but nonetheless we were still there in the finale. We fought for a podium and in the end we took a top 10 result. We were always well positioned at important points, such as in the Kemmelberg. So we can't be dissatisfied with our performance. We fought well and will continue to do so here in Belgium" - Jean-Pierre Heynderickx, Sport Director

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Danny van Poppel takes ninth at Gent – Wevelgem

As is tradition, the seventh and final stage of Volta Catalunya took the race to Barcelona’s city centre. The final stretch of the 135km long stage consisted of six laps of a tough circuit at the olympic park Montjuïc. On the third lap, P. Roglič, R. Evenepoel and M. Soler were able to break away from the peloton. BORA - hansgrohe did a lot of work in the chase, but was unable to close the gap. R. Evenepoel secured the stage win, and P. Roglič the overall victory. Jai Hindley and Cian Uijtdebroeks crossed the finish line within the group around 4th and were able to consolidate their positions in the GC. Hindley finishes the race in 8th, while 20-year-old Cian Uijtdebroeks in 9th takes his first top 10 result in a WorldTour race.&nbsp; &nbsp;Result01 R. Evenepoel 2:59:24&nbsp;02 P. Roglič +0:0003 M. Soler +0:5312 J. Hindley +0:5828 C. Uijtdebroeks +0:58 &nbsp;General Classification&nbsp;01 P. Roglič 28:19:10&nbsp;02 R. Evenepoel +0:0603 J. Almeida +2:1108 J. Hindley +3:1109 C. Uijtdebroeks +3:32&nbsp;&nbsp;From the Finish Line &nbsp;“For me, this top 10 result almost feels like a win. My goal here was to finish within the best 10 riders, and I prepared myself for that. The last stage was also really hard, but on the circuit I always managed to make it over the climb in a good position. I was able to learn a lot from Jai Hindley during the past week and I would also like to thank the whole team for their support.“ Cian Uijtdebroeks&nbsp;“At the beginning of the stage, we had a hope of going far in a breakaway. But with several teams controlling the race, this plan then went out of contention. It was also important for us to ride an offensive finale with Jai Hindley and to secure Cian Uijtdebroeks' top 10 position. Even though Jai couldn't make up any more spots in the GC, we're satisfied with having two riders in the top 10 overall, two podiums for Ide Schelling and a strong team performance throughout the week. Cian Uijtdebroeks' ninth place overall is a very valuable result. Getting a result like that at just 20 years old is impressive and an affirmation of his talent.” Christian Pömer, Sports Director &nbsp;

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Jai Hindley and Cian Uijtdebroeks conclude the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in the top 10 overall

On paper not the hardest stage, the riders made it a brutal one. The first uphill part was a perfect launch pad for attacks and several groups tried to go clear from the bunch. But it took over 100km until six riders distanced themselves from the peloton. On the last climb with about 20km remaining the group was caught and M. Soler gave it a go, later countered by R. Evenepoel and P. Roglic. These actions made the first bunch quite small with several BORA – hansgrohe riders in. When the front duo was caught it was Ide Schelling who contested the sprint for the German squad on finally crossed the line in 3rd place, while after a thrilling day K. Groves took the sprint from a heavily reduced bunch.&nbsp;&nbsp;Results01 K. Groves 3:50:3202 B. Coquuard +0:0003 I. Schelling +0:0008 P. Konrad +0:00&nbsp;From the finish line„It was a really hard day. Actually, a battle until 10km to go. The sprint than wasn’t too easy as nobody really controlled. I was a little back but found Koni with 700m to go and we hit the front then. Unfortunately, Kaden pushed me a little and therefore I was in the wind too early. Still, I think we can be happy with the result.“ –&nbsp;Ide Schelling&nbsp;„We were fully committed to a sprint with Ide the whole day. Frederik did an amazing job to control the beginning even it was quite chaotic. We didn’t do any crazy moves and just waited for the sprint from the reduced bunch. Unfortunately, some real sprinters made it over the last climb and of course it is very difficult for Ide then. But Koni did a good lead-out and Ide a strong sprint to finish 3rd. We are happy with this result.“ –&nbsp;Christian Pömer, Sports Director

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Ide Schelling takes 3rd on stage six at Volta Catalunya

The 176.6km long fifth stage in Catalunya featured the “Lo Port” climb. The final ascent of today’s stage was with a length of almost 9km and an average gradient of 8,6%, the hardest of the week. The last rider of an early breakaway was caught at 6.5km from the finish. After a tough race and several attacks on the way to the mountain finish, Jai Hindley crossed the finish line in 9th, Cian Uijtdebroeks, in 10th, scored a top 10 for the third time this week. P. Roglič took the stage win and also the GC lead. In the overall standings, Jai Hindley lost one position and is now 8th, closely followed by Cian Uijtdebroeks in 9th. &nbsp;&nbsp;Result01 P. Roglič 4:27:4102 R. Evenepoel +0:0603 J. Almeida +0:12&nbsp;09 J. Hindley +1:0410 C. Uijtdebroeks +1:15&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From the Finish Line &nbsp;“Another really tough mountain finish! The whole day was pretty easy until we hit the bottom of the climb, from there on it was full gas. Ide Schelling did a strong pull on the lower parts of the climb but I just didn’t have the legs to continue it. We’re still expecting two hard days here and we’ll see what we can do!” Jai Hindley&nbsp;“It was the last mountain finish of the race, we wanted to take some risks in order to gain a few positions in the overall. However, Jumbo-Visma and Soudal - Quick Step were just too strong and foiled our plans. Jai Hindley and Cian Uijtdebroeks are still in the top 10 overall - we will try everything on the remaining two stages to improve and head towards a top 5 finish.” Christian Pömer, Sports Director &nbsp;

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 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Jai Hindley and Cian Uijtdebroeks in the top 10 in tough Lo Port mountain finish 

On the fourth day in Catalunya, a 188.2km long stage from Llívia to Sabadell was on the program. A first category climb right after the start was followed by topographically easier terrain on the way to the finish line 20km north of Barcelona. A breakaway of five riders put their mark on the race but was ultimately brought back with only 4km to go. K. Groves was the fastest in the slightly uphill sprint, while Ide Schelling missed the podium in 4th. Frederik Wandahl crossed the line in 6th. &nbsp;&nbsp;Result01 K. Groves 4:19:3702 B. Coquard +0:0003 C. Strong +0:0004 I. Schelling +0:00&nbsp;06 F. Wandahl +0:00&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From the Finish Line &nbsp;“I tried to go for the breakaway but after I saw how some teams were controlling today, I knew it would be a sprint finish. In the finale I was in a pretty good position but it was a bit of a chaotic sprint and unfortunately I just missed the podium. Anyway I’m happy with my shape, maybe we’ll get another chance this week.” Ide Schelling&nbsp;&nbsp;“Our initial plan was to have a rider in today’s breakaway.&nbsp; However, we ended up discarding this plan due to quite a strong headwind and the high chance of a sprint finish. Our aim was then to score another podium with Ide Schelling. Unfortunately, the coordination in the lead out wasn’t really there, and we still have to go into a analysis of today. We definitely could have done better, so we can't be satisfied today.” Christian Pömer, Sports Director &nbsp;

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Ralph Scherzer

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