Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider Dylan Groenewegen crashed in the Tour of Britain’s stage today while going through the last corner and missed his chance to win in Castle Douglas. German André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won the 166-kilometre stage and took the lead in the general classification

"I have some pain in my ribs and abrasions," said Groenewegen. "Crashing in the final corner is also part of sprinting. As a team, we rode well today. We were briefly trapped in the final, but we came out of it well. In the last corner, I was sitting in Mark Cavendish’s wheel. Wouter Wippert slipped in the bend and took out Cavendish. I fell too."

Big stars crash
Besides Groenewegen and Cavendish, Juan José Lobato, Danny van Poppel and Elia Viviani crashed. From the gun in Glasgow, five riders broke free. Tom Moses (JLT Condor), Pete Williams (One Pro Cycling), Johnny McEvoy (NFTO), Jasper Upper House and Emiel Wastyn (An Post - Chain Reaction) were more than four minutes ahead when the sprinters teams in the peloton started to whittle down their lead. Long before the finish, the group caught the five and the speed built towards a bunch sprint.

Perfect
In the streets of Castle Douglas, LottoNL-Jumbo took the lead. Everything went perfectly until the final corner at 200 metres out. "It was perfect,” said Sports Director Merijn Zeeman. "We played our cards for Dylan Groenewegen because it was a stage for the sprinters. We took responsibility in the final kilometres, but in the last corner, everything went wrong.”

Monday
The race continues tomorrow with a 188-kilometre hilly stage from Carlisle to Kendal. "Fortunately, there are some other days when I will have a chance to win again,” added Groenewegen. “ Today, I saw a good Paul Martens and Bertjan Lindeman, so we will fight on Monday for the break and a good result with them because I expect that tomorrow will be too difficult for me.”