Photo Credit: Cor Vos

A flat affair awaited the peloton this afternoon, with 150 kilometres on the menu from Redon to Fougères, and another expected sprint finish. It was a controlled start to the stage with two riders escaping the bunch, with all Team DSM riders in the peloton. Their gap grew out to almost three minutes but it was quickly controlled and the throughout the afternoon they were slowly reeled in.

Heading into the final 20 kilometres the team slowly started to move forward as a group, looking to protect and keep Cees Bol safe ahead of the finish. Out front, Van Moer attacked his breakaway companion and with the peloton fanning across the road, he held onto over a one minute advantage inside the final six kilometres.

Along with some other sprint trains, the team charge towards the front of the peloton with Tiesj Benoot and Mark Donovan doing some good early work before Søren Kragh Andersen took over. As the gap to Van Moer tumbled down, Casper Pedersen then hit the front leading the sprint train expertly through some tricky corners at two kilometres to go before Joris Nieuwenhuis then fought hard to maintain the position. Last lead out man, Nils Eekhoff, had Bol in his wheel as the catch of Van Moer was made at around 250 metres to go, before the finishers launched their efforts. On the kick up to the line, Bol was wheel-to-wheel with stage winner Cavendish but just ran out of steam before the finish, ending the day with a very respectable and solid sixth place for the team.

“It was a nice sprint today,” explained Bol at the finish. “The guys brought me in nice position from which I could start the sprint. I’m happy how we rode as a team, and every day the feeling is getting better. We had good positioning and went with speed into the finish but some guys came from the back in the end. I had some bad luck in preparation for the race with sickness and I couldn’t train optimally. I have a good feeling but not a top feeling yet. That comes closer each day though and with how the guys set me up today, it gives me a boost for the next stages and chances.”

Team DSM coach Luke Roberts added: “Today was a more relaxed stage and we had the goal to set Cees up to sprint and challenge for the victory. We had a good plan and the guys committed well to the execution. Cees just missed a little power to finish it off today, which is understandable after his previous sickness, but it gives us confidence in how we are working and we know that we can build on this.”