Intermarché-Wanty claimed its first victory of the 2025 season with Dion Smith outsprinting a six-man breakaway to take the win at the Volta NXT Classic on Saturday.
Despite scoring four podiums this year - runner-up finishes for Arne Marit on stage 2 of the Tour Down Under and Biniam Girmay on stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve, as well as third places for Gerben Thijssen at La Roue Tourangelle and Louis Barré at Paris-Camembert—the Belgian squad had been the last top-tier team yet to claim a victory this year.
For the past three years, the team had been able to take its first victory in January, but this year, they had to wait until April to finally reach the top step of the podium—though still a month earlier than in 2021.
Smith said in a team release that he was happy to “offer Intermarché-Wanty this victory, as we’re now progressively gaining strength after a rough start to the season with a lot of sickness and crashes.”
The team’s early season was indeed plagued by setbacks. Laurenz Rex was sidelined by illness and missed the chance to defend his title at the Ename Samyn Classic, a home race for the squad. Hugo Page also fell ill in early March.
Crashes further hampered the team’s momentum - Thijssen and Huub Artz both went down at Brugge-De Panne. Artz suffered a brain contusion, a fractured rib, and required stitches to his face. Just a week later, Francesco Busatto and Simone Petilli crashed at Strade Bianche. Busatto crossed the line in 48th with blood on his face, while Petilli had to undergo surgery for a broken collarbone.
Not all absences were due to misfortune, however. Leader Girmay skipped Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne to attend the birth of his second child and returned to competition at Milan-San Remo.
The win in Limburg marked Smith’s second professional victory, and his first in five years. The 32-year-old, who has largely ridden in a support role in recent seasons, seized his opportunity by responding to a late attack with under 20 kilometres remaining on the 190km course, which featured 25 climbs.
“We lined up for this Volta NXT Classic with a strong team and I was offered the opportunity to race for a result myself, depending on how the race turned out. As we had good numbers in the peloton in the final, I didn’t hesitate to follow the attack of Frank van den Broek,” Dion said.
“In my course recon yesterday I learned there was a chance to stay away thanks to the tailwind. It was a perfect situation with the presence of our sprinter Arne Marit in the group behind me. I don’t know how I managed to stay calm in the final, knowing that my last victory in the Coppa Sabatini was five years ago already. The past couple of years I’ve grown into a support role, losing the habits to manage this kind of situation. To be able to do it today makes me extremely happy.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to finish my first part of the season before my build-up to the Giro d’Italia.”
