Summary: Feyenoord couldn't handle the pressure of leading the league table by a single point over Ajax and have slipped up massive here. Ebenezer Appiah scores the lone goal to hand Feyenoord its second league loss of the season.

Elsewhere, Ajax wins 1-0 and moves a top of the table.

Rating: 6.8 - The whole team wasn't great today, not just me.

Player of Game: Younes Namli, PEC Zwolle (7.7)

Summary: The result wasn't comfortable by any means, but it's still an important win. Rodolfo Pizarro scored in the 19th minute to secure the three points. Dylan Klok was evaluated for a concussion but was cleared a few days later.

Ajax squeezed out a 2-1 road win to maintain the league's top spot.

Rating: 6.8 - Mostly a bystander.

Player of Game: Abdulkadir Omur, Feyenoord (8.3)

Summary: Feyenoord home supporters begged for a goal for 85 minutes before Nick Foss answered the dire request. Otavio slipped Foss behind and the veteran striker went near-post for the game-winning goal.

Somewhat lost in the crucial win was Feyenoord's experienced goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet breaking his hand in the 36th minute and giving the reins to 22-year-old Joey Koorevaar. Zoet is expected to miss multiple weeks.

Over in Utrecht, Ajax continued its winning ways with another 2-1 victory.

Rating: 6.8 - For some reason this is the only rating I can get recently.

Player of Game: Daniel van Kaam, Groningen (7.2)

Summary: Everyone knew what was at-stake and Feyenoord couldn't get the job done on the road. Giving up the first goal was a gut punch that they were able to recover from before halftime. But, the second goal never came. Feyenoord outshot FC Twente 25-3 (12-1 on target). Nonetheless, a frustrating tie.

Rating: 6.7 - Even worse than the multiple 6.8 showings. I've been on a cold streak recently and picked up my second yellow card in league play. You need five to receive a one-match suspension.

Player of Game: Otavio, Feyenoord (8.0)

Summary: For the fifth time in the last eight seasons, Feyenoord lifts the KNVB Beker Cup and secures at least an Europa League spot for next season. It's the 16th cup win in club history for Feyenoord.

Nick Foss and Yassin Ayoub scored early to put the pressure on Ajax. Feyenoord fouled like crazy to keep the pace nice and slow. Sean Klaiber pulled one goal back for Ajax in the 74th minute and the crossbar was left shaking in the 82nd minute.

But, Feyenoord rode out the rest of the time and celebrated accordingly.


Rating: 7.0 - Best rating of the month, but that isn't saying much. I'll happily add another accolade to my growing resume. Well done lads!

Player of Game: Sven van Beek, Feyenoord (7.4)

- Each member gets 6.5 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Only stats that aren't locked can be upgraded.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.

Summary: For those that tuned in for all-out action, I'm sorry to disappoint. No major attacks all afternoon and 11 cyclists settled the race with a sprint. Truly disappointing showing for the spectators, but not for Peter Sagan. Hopefully, Paris - Roubaix next week can be more exciting.

Result: 23rd - Dropped early after I got slowed up on one of the cobbled climbs. Better positioning and I think I finish in that front group.

Instead, I end up nearly six minutes behind Sagan in a group with an unfriendly Magnus Cort Nielsen. We still aren't on speaking terms after what happened in Australia at the start of the season.

Summary: Now the race truly starts as we hit the first of many cobbled sectors on today's route. Morning breakaway up the road, along with early attacker Lars Boom.


Marcus Diamond suffers a flat 10 seconds into the first cobbled section. That's brutal. He gets a new bike from the team car and will have to ride back up through the peloton.


The energy used to work back up to the front will cost Diamond in the long run. He is the first major contender dropped with 68kms to go. There are 21 cyclists left in the peloton chasing down leader Lars Boom.


Diamond coasts into the velodrome looking defeated. This wasn't the outcome he could have envisioned today, and a part of it wasn't his fault. A bad break on the first cobbled sector did him in today. He will finish way back in 36th, over 10 minutes behind our trio of front runners.


Mads Pedersen outlasts forner Paris -Roubaix winners Mike Teunissen (2022) and Tiesj Benoot (2020) to win his first monument of his career.

Result: 36th - When one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong.

Summary: After having rather rough races at Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix earlier this month, Marcus Diamond has decided to be the aggressor here. He attacks on the penultimate circuit with 18kms to go.


Diamond is followed by Wout Van Aert, Michael Valgren and Andreas Kron. They come flying up on dropped breakaway man Tadej Pogacar and Van Aert didn't see him coming around a corner and knocked him down to the wet asphalt.

Van Aert manages to keep his balance for a moment, but he doesn't recover fast enough to make the next corner. Van Aert, the race favourite goes head-first over the barrier and into the crowd. What a scene.

More cyclists are caught up in this growing crash as nobody can see the carnage that awaits once they turn the corner. We have reports that favourites Alberto Bettiol, Zdenek Stybar, Tony Gallopin and Lukas Postlberger have gone down as well.

But, no time to show that, our cameras have followed Diamond's group.


Attack from Valgren as the three attackers have reached the remaining three morning breakaway riders.


No good from Valgren and now he wants some help pacing this front group of six with 10kms to go. They have a 1'31" lead on solo attacker Jimmy Duquennoy and sizable 2'08" lead back to Van Aert (somehow back on his bike), Gallopin and Postlberger.


Past 5kms to go, one of these four are going to win today. Kron leads the way followed by Valgren, Diamond and breakaway man Yannick Peeters. On paper, Diamond is the best sprinter here but it will probably come down to who has saved the most energy for the final kilometers.


Valgren doesn't want to take his chance against Diamond in a sprint and attacks on the final cobbled sector of the day. No answer from Kron or Diamond. Peeters has been dropped for good.


Valgren takes it. That final burst was enough.

Result: 3rd - That was fun. I tried saving energy for one last push at the end to go for the win, but I never recovered from making the decisive attack that got me in that position in the first place.

Summary: We start the action today with a very strong seven-cyclist breakaway up the road. The biggest name has to be rising British star Marcus Diamond who is better know for his conquests on the cobbles but he certainly has the abilities to handle the rolling roads today.

It's a great move for SEG Racing Academy because they still have the Yates brothers back in the peloton if this move doesn't pay off. Or, maybe Diamond could lend them a helping hand later in the race.


With 200kms to go, the breakaway has built an eight-minute lead.


Fast forward 100kms and the gap is down to 3'35" and shrinking.


Massive crash in the peloton with 72kms to go. It happen right at the front. Adam Yates started a chain reaction crash leaving just 13 cyclists in the lead chase group. Simon Yates managed to dodge the wreck and even has a helper, Grace Garner, with him still. The only pre-race favourite in this front group is Marianne Vos.

But, they decide to sit up and regroup.


It was the right decision, as the peloton works together to pull back the breakaway with 26kms remaining.


And it's even Marianne Vos who benefits the most by winning the race.

Result: 30th - Got some good exposure in the breakaway and took the pressure off SEG to chase today, that allowed Simon Yates to finish third.

Summary: Only three cyclists take up the breakaway: Sergio Samuel (SEG), Piotr Brozyna (Polska Travel) and Benat Intxausti (Qantas).

They were caught with 25kms to go.

Some of the big names tried to get away with attacks, but nobody could make anything stick so 20 cyclists had to settle LBL in a sprint.


It's Marianne Vos claiming her second monument in back-to-back weeks.

Result: 26th - Protected the Yates brothers and got to ride around in the peloton with Grace. Didn't have the stamina to stay in the front group but was 3'41" behind them in the chase group. Simon Yates finished 10th and Adam Yates placed 13th. It's clear I still have a ways to go if I want to challenge the best of the best.

- Each member gets 4.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades

Summary: Rodolfo Pizarro getting hurt in the first half was probably the best thing that could have happened for Feyenoord. Dylan Klok was called in off the bench and played lights out. For whatever reason, Klok was been used sparely for Feyenoord this season, despite having a knack for scoring goals.

His two goals (No. 15, 16 on the season in 14 games) at the end of each half lift Feyenoord to another win. But they will be disheartened to hear the other results from around the league: Ajax defeated Vitesse 2-1 and PSV defeated sc Heerenveen 2-0 with both teams playing with 10 men.


Rating: 6.7 - Poor. And now with Pizarro out at least four weeks with a twisted ankle, the team needs me more than ever next week in the final game of the season. I got to break out of this recent slump, and we need Ajax to lose or draw its last game against Excelsior.

Player of Game: Dylan Klok, Feyenoord (8.8)

Summary: Feyenoord decided to keep all distractions outside of the stadium and didn't want to see or hear updates of the Ajax and Excelsior game during its clash with PSV. Not knowing was brutally hard in the second half once they had the game wrapped up due to Dylan Klok going off with a first-half hat trick.

The world-class showing comes with a prestigious award as 21-year-old Klok wins the Eredivisie Golden Boot with 19 goals in 15 appearances (11 starts). He averaged a goal every 84 minutes. Quite remarkable.

Rating: 7.4 - Better, but it was Klok getting all the press interviews after the game. And that's when I heard the news from a sideline reporter.

"Dylan, just an incredible day for you with a hat trick. But, not sure if you have seen, Ajax won 3-0 against Excelsior to claim the title. How are you processing the conflicting emotions?"

"... I didn't know that, I guess, well I don't know... Sorry, I don't really know what to say. We worked so hard for it come down to this last game. I was just doing my part. Looking back, we let some games slip away that we should have won and, in the end, that going to cost us the title this year. That hurts," Klok said.

Player of Game: Dylan Klok, Feyenoord (9.5)

Summary: A steady drizzle of rain soaked the riders throughout the afternoon. Then, the sprinters to came to play in the final 5kms once the morning breakaway was caught.


Dutch speedster Fabio Jakobsen had the fastest set of wheels.

Result: 14th - Average day in the saddle results wise, but I'm feeling like I'm in great form at the moment. I just need the right race terrain to showcase my abilities.

Summary: Poor camera work (Brad, you're fired) missed a crucial crash with 7kms to go. The front group is reduced to 20 cyclists, with all of the favored sprinters missing the mayhem. Looks like it did disrupted Fabio Jakobsen's sprint train though. South African Runako Tshabalala takes advantage and wins a photo finish ahead of Andre Looij.

Result: 7th - In the mix. Shame no time bonuses were awarded. Also not too pleased with how this tour has been organized so far. There are rumors going around that it was actually a camera motobike that caused the crash in the final kilometers but there is somehow no video evidence to support that claim. Strange.

Summary: Down to 5kms to go and veteran Daniel Martin is giving it a go. Jack Haig looking to follow with a menacing SEG leadout for Marcus Diamond trying to track everything down.


Martin and Haig throw in the towel. It's a textbook leadout by Niklas Markl to set up hometown favourite Diamond for the stage win and possibly the yellow jersey.


Markl ran out of energy to soon. Diamond is swarmed by competitors. George Bennett rushes into the lead under the 1km to go banner.


The puncheurs absolutely bottled this one. Stage 1 winner Fabio Jakobsen saved enough energy to outsprint everyone. He recaptures the yellow jersey in the process as well.

Result: 6th, 11th GC - Caught in bad spot when Markl hit the wall. Just haven't caught a lucky break in this tour yet. Hopefully, it comes tomorrow. It has to come tomorrow... It's the last stage.

Summary: Yesterday was a hilly stage won by a sprinter. Today is classified as flat but has an eye-catching incline in the final 5kms to coax a GC attack. Will we have any takers?


Anyone who made this bet won't be making much money. It's Marcus Diamond going all-in on the final climb. This is the same move he made two years ago on this same route — lazy race organizers. It didn't work then, will it work now?


Even though everybody knew this move was coming, the peloton still has to prevent it from working. Talk about a bold attack. Diamond is toying with his rivals right now. Basically saying with his actions, "You knew I was going to do it, now do something about it."


No way is this stronghanded tactic going to work... Or is it?


It's pure brilliance from the Brit! No time to celebrate because he is hoping a small time gap will be awarded to give him the GC win as well. Sadly for Diamond, despite how shady this race was run, the race organizers don't show any hometown bias. No time gap given.

If it's any consolation, Niklas Markl wins the sprint for second to give SEG a 1-2 double.

Result: 1st, 4th GC, 1st Youth - Wanted to prove I was the strongest cyclist in the peloton. I think I did that even though I finished 4th overall. Weird how this result feels better than the second place I got here last season. For those keeping count, this my 15th career win.

A perfect sendoff for my vacation with Grace.

Summary: Here we go. 10kms to go, Jack Haig attacks from the remaining 25-cyclist peloton. Still up the road, about 30 seconds, is the final breakaway man Geoffrey Soupe.


One more circuit to go. It didn't Haig long to catch Soupe. Israel Cycling has three cyclists doing the chasing from the peloton.


Lapped traffic causes some confusion in the last kilometer. The chase group uses that to their advantage as Haig gets slowed up. Lilian Calmejane, from Israel Cycling, uses the launch pad his teammates set up to pass Haig in the chaos with 200kms to the line.

Result: 9th - Pretty quiet day for me. Still a top 10 is nothing to scoff at.

- Each member gets 4.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades

Summary: Wilfred Ndidi gets Nigeria off and running in the 4th minute. Kosovo answers with a brilliant set piece in the 26th minute. The turning point, however, was in the 37th minute when Nigeria rising star John Hamzat sprained his ankle and had to come off. Marcus Diamond moved up into the CAM role and made an immediate impact with an assist to Moses Simon's goal two minutes later.

Alex Iwobi buried one more just before halftime and should have finished a second but missed a penalty in the 53rd minute.

Rating: 6.7 - Stepped up for Hamzat and got an assist. Not much more to say. Hamzat is going to be out 2-4 weeks, so I got an opportunity to get more involved in the offensive attack these next couple of games.

Player of Game: Wilfred Ndidi, Nigeria (8.4)

Summary: Wilfred Ndidi gets the party started again with another early goal. Marcus Diamond followed that up with his third international goal in 15 appearances.


Alex Iwobi made it 3-0 going into halftime. But a goalkeeper blunder by Joseph Sunday allowed Guinea to pull one goal back at the start of the season half.

Four days after losing John Hamzat to an injury, Nigeria gets dealt another blow in the 54th minute when Marcus Diamond wins a 50-50 ball but fractures a rib in the process. Early reports say he will be out at least a month.

Kevin Akpoguma headed home a corner to put the final score at 4-1. It was Akpoguma's first international goal in 42 appearances.

Rating: 7.3 - Everything was going great until I took an elbow to the chest. Spent the night in the hospital. Going to miss a few weeks but doctors expect a full recovery. This really sucks. Hopefully the team keeps on winning.

Player of Game: Moses Simon, Nigeria (9.0)