Dylan Groenewegen bests Jasper Philipsen as the Unibet Rose Rockets start to come into their own.
Cor Vos
Three years after their launch as a social-media savvy Continental squad, the now-second-division Unibet Rose Rockets have their first WorldTour victory. Dylan Groenewegen, one of several big signings the team made over the offseason, continued his stellar start to 2026 on Wednesday at the Ronde van Brugge, where he bested Jasper Philipsen in the final sprint.
The Rockets’ smooth handling of a tricky finale stood out even more in relief against the disappointing showing from Alpecin-Premier Tech. Despite the presence of two-time winner Philipsen for Alpecin, Groenewegen and his teammates outshone the dominant Classics squad of this decade, denying Alpecin a fourth win in five years in the race formerly known as Brugge-De Panne.
“They brought me into good position and then Philipsen went quite early so I could just follow him and pass him,” Groenewegen explained after the win.
On a chilly and wet day in Flanders, crosswinds forced splits over and over again in the peloton at the Ronde van Brugge, where a traditional breakaway never actually formed. By the final 10 km, the lead group was drastically whittled down, although some marquee sprinters were still in the mix.
The Rockets, with sprinting great Marcel Kittel in the team car as sports director, were well-represented in that finale as well as in the many echelons that came before. First, that meant helping Groenewegen overcome an untimely puncture, and then it was all about keeping him in prime position for the coming sprint. Alpecin, meanwhile, had several riders chasing amid late splits, including Philipsen himself, who was out of position before a key curve where a split formed, forcing him into an awkward pursuit.
After expending some effort, Philipsen got back into the lead group, but it took some time for any teammates to join him.
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