In Rhythm of the Road, we follow the Airoman.cc teams and riders during their road races. From classic one-day races and local circuits to challenging stage races. We take you through the peloton and give you a behind-the-scenes look at our athletes.
Timothy Dupont didn't have to wait long for his first victory in 2026. The Tarteletto-Isorex sprinter already claimed victory in the Dorpenomloop Rucphen. In the Dutch race, he narrowly beat David Dekker and Dane Stian Rosenlund in the final sprint. We spoke with him after the race.
A typical Dutch sprint race
On the circuit in Rucphen, as is often the case in Dutch spring races, the sprint ended in a bunch sprint. Small groups were occasionally given a break, but the peloton maintained control and never really let the gap grow. In the final, it was up to the sprinter teams to position their sprinters well, and that worked out particularly well for Tarteletto-Isorex. "With five kilometers to go, we took the initiative. Zeno Moonen did an excellent job, and Arne Santy was my last man. About 450 meters from the finish, a roundabout caused a hectic moment, with several competitors losing sight of each other." But Dupont saw an opening on the left side of the road and decided to seize his opportunity.
A high-speed sprint
Dupont remained calm in the peloton and chose just the right moment to launch his sprint. With a powerful acceleration, he emerged first from the final corner and maintained his speed until the finish. "My sprint speed hasn't decreased yet," he said with a smile. "I reached 71 kilometers per hour." This made him just a tad faster than Dekker and the other sprinters. And the small margins were also evident in the finish photo, where the difference was a bandwidth.
Minimal differences prove the importance of small optimizations
Finishes like this one demonstrate the importance of proper optimization. Airoman products, and especially the "Evo" line that Tarteletto-Isorex will be riding in 2026, are designed for high-speed races, where aerodynamics can be the difference between winning and losing.
An important confirmation
For Dupont, the victory meant more than just a good start to the season. At 38, the Belgian is one of the most experienced riders in the peloton, but he still shows he can compete at a high level. "As long as I can compete at the highest level, I'll keep racing," he emphasized. The victory in Rucphen also earned valuable UCI points for his team, Tarteletto-Isorex, and was a nice reward after a strong start to the season. Earlier this year, Dupont finished third in a stage of the Pune Grand Tour in India. With his victory in the Netherlands, he once again underscores that experience and speed remain a dangerous combination in the sprint.
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