Dion Smith ended his Intermarché-Wanty team's victory drought at the Volta NXT Classic in the Netherlands, deploying the quickest finish at the line among the small leading group of six.
The New Zealander scored his team's first win of 2025 ahead of Frank Van Den Broek (Picnic-PostNL Development) and Niklas Larsen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm).
Smith had joined the lead group with 17km to go, 6km after Van Den Broek's attack in the hills late in the race had instigated the move at the front.
He was joined by Milan Lanhove (Flanders-Baloise), Jelle Johannink (Unibet Tietema Rockets), and Jonathan Vervenne (Soudal-QuickStep Development) in the move, which would swell to six riders.
Behind them, Visma-Lease A Bike attempted to wrest control of the situation at the front of the peloton, but attack after attack off the front disrupted the chase. There were still chances to make the catch, with a gap of 12 seconds between the groups at the start of the final local lap of 6km.
It was touch and go right to the final kilometre, with the peloton bearing down on the leaders. Lanhove tried one final move off the front, punching away to try and score his first pro victory. However, it was Smith who had the quicker finish, sprinting past before reaching the line to take the second win of his own career.
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