LottoNL-Jumbo’s Enrico Battaglin finished 11th in the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné today in Arlanc. Frenchman Arnaud Démare won the 191-kilometre stage from a bunch sprint and Thomas De Gendt retained the overall lead.

After a series of attacks in the first kilometres, Koen Bouwman broke away with Nathan Brown, Romain Combaud and Mickaël Delage. The latter dropped back to the peloton.

"I wanted to show myself this week," said Bouwman. "We rode clear with four men, but when FDJ's rider dropped back, we continued full-throttle with the three of us."

In the peloton, the sprinter teams controlled the race. They held the lead at a maximum of 3-30 minutes.

"I soon realised that it was becoming a cat-n-mouse game and so I started to collect the necessary mountain points on the way. We didn’t stay clear, but at least I can start in the mountain jersey tomorrow. So I gained something from the day’s effort.”

LottoNL-Jumbo is fighting for the sprints with Battaglin when their attacks do not stick. Tomorrow, he will have another chance to fight at the front.

"It was a tough and spicy ride today," Sports Director Grischa Niermann said. "The sprinter teams did not let Koen and the others go, and Astana also had other plans with Lutsenko, who made the jump from the peloton to the head group. 

“We have been trying to sprint with Enrico Battaglin. In the upcoming days we’ll keep on fighting for the prizes.” 

On paper, the stage of tomorrow looks almost the same as the first two stages. The 184-kilometre run from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins has three climbs of the fourth category and one of the third.