ZLM Tour 2026 marks the first professional victory (the second of the season) for Henry Hobbs. The talented British rider of Visma Lease a Bike Devo has indeed taken home the final stage of the short Dutch stage race with start and finish in Waalwijk, beating in the sprint two much more experienced riders than him such as Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto Intermarchè), third, and Max Walscheid (Lidl - Trek), second.

The latter concluded in second place in the general classification as well, where his teammate Mathias Vacek, ninth today, had no problems in conquering the yellow jersey by managing the advantage he had over him (33 seconds at the finish) and over Axel van der Tuuk (third at 1'06" from the Czech rider).

THE RACE

The stage was characterized by the breakaway of Mees Vlot (Team Picnic PostNL), Tars Poelvoorde (Lotto Intermarchè), Artuur Torney (Team Flanders - Baloise), Roan Konings (Metec - SOLARWATT p/b Mantel), Rick Ottema (EEW-VDK Cyclingteam), Max Kroonen (BEAT CC p/b Saxo), Oliver Knudsen (Swatt Club) who, given the green light by the peloton after 14 kilometers from the start, raced at the front until the last of the five laps of the Waalwijk circuit when, 3000 meters from the finish line, they were caught by the peloton pulled by the men of Lidl-Trek, Visma Lease a Bike and Lotto Intermarchè.

The fate of the stage was therefore decided by a group sprint which, surprising rivals much more favored, the nineteen-year-old Hobbs won, showing for the first time among the big names of the sport all the potential and talent he possesses.

The Englishman, who scored in this 2026 in the second stage of the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, thus gave his team the first joy of a week dominated by Lidl-Trek which, with the men brought to Holland for the occasion, closed the event with three stage victories, the conquest of the team classification and that of best young rider (thanks to Hector Alvarez) and the one-two in both the general classification (1st Vacek, 2nd Walscheid) and in the points classification (1st Walscheid, 2nd Vacek).

FINISHING ORDER

1. Henry Hobbs (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 3:52:10

2. Max Walscheid (Lidl - Trek) s.t.

3. David Dekker (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) s.t.

4. Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto Intermarchè) s.t.

5. Florian Sénéchal (Alpecin - Premier Tech) s.t.

6. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) s.t.

7. Roy Hoogendoorn (Team Picnic PostNL) s.t.

8. Gari Ugarte (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.

9. Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) s.t.

10. Tobias Müller (Unibet Rose Rockets) s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) 17:14:53

2. Max Walscheid (Lidl - Trek) +0:33

3. Axel van der Tuuk (Euskaltel - Euskadi) +1:06

4. Tim van Dijke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) +1:08

5. Mick van Dijke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) +1:41

6. Héctor Álvarez (Lidl - Trek) +2:08

7. Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets) +2:11

8. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) +2:14

9. Edward Theuns (Lidl - Trek) +2:34

10. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) +3:06

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points classification: Max Walscheid (Lidl - Trek)

Best young rider classification: Héctor Álvarez (Lidl - Trek)

Team classification: Lidl-Trek