After Saturday’s good showing and the second place with Sean Flynn, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were determined to once again make the race on Sunday’s second stage at Tour des Alpes-Maritimes. Animating the race from the off, the team set a strong tempo on the first climb to see if a strong group could go clear but eventually it was brought back. Things settled into a normal race rhythm but the team were always alert to dangerous moves, with Flynn himself making it into a promising attack. Coming into the finale Flynn was unfortunately caught up in a crash, but out front Romain Bardet and Kevin Vermaerke rolled attacks. The duo tried several times to break free of the bunch, but it was ultimately in vain, with Bardet reeled in inside of the final kilometre and Vermaerke leading the team home on the day; finishing the race overall in sixth place.
Vermaerke said: “The day turned out differently than we expected as we thought it might have been a hard stage, especially with the longer climbs in the beginning. We were all present at the front and tried to adapt to an easier race. I think as a team we rode really well, we were always in a good position for all the descents. Coming into the final there were a few attacks going and we had Sean in the main one. The rest of us were sitting in a good position behind. Chris crashed but he was able to come back and him and Romain [Combaud] did a really good job to get myself, Romain [Bardet] and Sean into position for the final. Unfortunately, at about five kilometres to go there was a crash just before the climb which took Sean out of contention. I think when you look at it then it’s a pity because with Romain and I able to go on the attack, it would have been really nice to have Sean behind in a position to sprint. If you look at the results then it could have been a really nice opportunity for him to fight for the win from that group. We’re a bit disappointed to not get a result today after the good teamwork but our shape is really good and we’ll take this atmosphere and confidence into the next weekend and try again.”