Wilco Kelderman suffered some abrasions on his right shoulder and face, and a sore wrist due to a crash on Tuesday in the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The overall damage does not seem too bad.

The leader of Team LottoNL-Jumbo hit the tarmac in the final 1.5 kilometres of the stage. The time loss he incurred with his fall won’t count against his overall classification. The gap between the 24-year-old Dutchman and race leader Peter Kennaugh of team Sky remains 12 seconds.

Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis sprinted to victory in Tuesday's 173-kilometre stage from Le Bourget-du-Lac to Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes.  Dennis van Winden led team LottoNL-Jumbo home by finishing 14th. 

Zeeman on crash

Kelderman was constantly surrounded by team-mates in the closing stages of the race, but despite all those efforts, he still went down.  

“The men were working hard to keep Wilco out of trouble and that went well for quite a long time,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “He was in a place where it should have been relatively quiet, away from the hustle of the sprinters, but accidents always happen.”

The Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders had another reason to ride at the head of the pack. “We were looking for an opportunity to take advantage of the crosswinds and therefore we were aggressive. Other teams were doing the same and so things got hectic during the last 30 kilometres. Brian Bulgac and Maarten Wynants also crashed because of that.” 

Both seem to be OK, as well. 

Team time trial

The third day of the Critérium Dauphiné is all about a collective struggle against the clock. The team will face a 24.5-kilometre time trial between Roanne and Montagny. 

“We want to improve our TTT skills,” Zeeman already said last week. “We must make sure that we deliver a good performance, so that we can help Wilco move up in the overall.”