After Monday’s opening time trial, Tuesday saw the first open road stage of the week at Itzulia Basque Country. Set to be the main sprint opportunity of the week, although in typical Itzulia fashion there were still several rolling climbs to contend with, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL aimed to bring fast finisher Emils Liepins into the finale. Staying safe and out of trouble earlier in the day, the team moved forward into a good position at around 20 kilometres to go but from that point the bad luck started. Liepins suffered a puncture and after a hard chase with the help of the guys returned to the group at around five kilometres to go. However, the pace was high and the bunch nervous on the damp, wet roads, and unfortunately a crash in the front third of the bunch saw all of the team miss out on the front split. Oscar Onley was involved in the spill but managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage with some minor cuts and scrapes. It unfortunately meant the team couldn’t compete for a result on the stage, with Warren Barguil leading the team home.
Road captain Romain Combaud explains more: “The first part of the day we did really well and stuck all together. We were in a good position at 20 kilometres to go but in the end it was a lot more hectic, with a lot of bad luck. Emils had a flat tyre at around 12 kilometres to go when it was really fast, so it was a hard chase back. We made it back at around five kilometres left and we tried to put him in a good spot, especially Martijn who did a good job, but because it was so fast and hard it was already a bit too late I think. We were then again unlucky with Oscar involved in the crash at four kilometres to go, but he is okay apart from some cuts so that is the most important thing for the rest of the week. It was just bad luck all round. We have four more opportunities so will keep our heads up and continue in a good way.”