Thursday started off on a disappointing note for the team as John Degenkolb joined Nils Eekhoff in leaving the race ahead of the start of the stage. The rest of the squad were faced with a fast and flat route that took place over just 15 kilometres around the streets of Tessenderlo. The majority of the team aimed to get round in a good way, either recovering from yesterday’s crashes or preserving as much energy as possible for the coming opportunities. However, last man down the ramp for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, Frank van den Broek, gave it his best around the course with an eye on going for a good GC placing come the end of the week. Riding strongly, Van den Broek set consistent times throughout the three intermediate checkpoints, eventually stopping the clock in 17 minutes and 43 seconds, putting him in the mix alongside several other strong riders ahead of the coming stages.
Van den Broek said: “I went out the gate a bit harder than planned but I was able to hold on to the finish line. I am happy with my performance and only losing 44 seconds to the winner in the end. It’s sad that we have to continue without Nils and John here after their crashes yesterday. For sure we will miss two big engines and strong guys, but we will go for it in the sprints the next two days and then I myself aim to be in the race on Sunday and try to move up in GC.”
