The Tour de France was expected to see another sprint finish at today’s sixth stage, with the possibility of echelons adding something extra to the sprint mix. The race was hectic all day as all teams were aware of the potential crosswinds, but Team dsm-firmenich PostNL stayed calm and rode well together. When the race split up coming into the final 80 kilometres, they had five guys in the first split before everything rolled back together. The pace in the peloton remained high ahead of the expected bunch sprint, so no attacks were able to go clear and everyone approached the final together. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL did a good job sticking together and moving up towards the sprint inside the final kilometre. They had to pay for that effort a bit and couldn’t contest for the victory today, but this was another promising and committed team performance to build on for the next opportunities.
Speaking after the stage, road captain John Degenkolb said: “It was a super stressful and hectic day today due to the expected crosswinds. We rode really well as a team and even when we saw some splits opening, we were in the front group with multiple guys. Coming towards the finish, we also managed to stick to each other really well. We must now fine-tune how we take on the finals to be able to bring Fabio [Jakobsen] with fresher legs into the sprint so he can contest the victory. Today we came from too far back, but we were all together, so that is a positive thing to take out of today. I am confident that we will get there.”