A CRUSHING BLOW: END OF A TREND FOR VAN DEN BRINK?
Van den Brink Jr had climbed one rung of the ladder every time he tried, starting with fourth overall in 2023, then third in 2024 and then second in 2025. Can you guess what the young Dutchman's goal was at the start in Yanbu? The truck title seemed clearly within reach, with two stage wins, the prologue and an overall margin of half an hour over Vaidotas Žala at the start of the day. Yet, sometimes, birthdays are full of woe, as Van den Brink found out today. His 24th year on Earth started with a broken drive shaft at km 16, but that was only the beginning. He tried to bounce back and limit the damage to 45 minutes at km 281, but he ran into trouble again when he got stuck in the sand at km 286 and had to be fished out by his team principal, Martin Macík. The results at the finish dealt a grievous blow to his hopes of victory in Yanbu in three days. He is now third, 35′30″ from the new sheriff in town, Vaidotas Žala.
