The toughest part was the 22nd stage, says Mathematics student Rik Hopmans, which involved long stretches of mud and puddles.

The stage was tackled by young fellow student Casper van der Putten, who was introduced in Cursor 17 (May 1), as was Hopmans. “Casper was incredibly fast with an average of 19 km/h. It wasn’t easy to keep up with him on my mountain bike at times. He was the fastest by far in his stage: two-and-a-half minutes faster than number two.” 

Last year, team TU/e-Fontys won a silver medal. This year’s winner Groningen didn’t have a very strong team at the time, though. “We were closer to Nijmegen this year than in 2013. It’s been a very exciting race until the very end.”