The stage from Pismo Beach to Avila Beach was a typical one for the sprinters and Team LottoNL-Jumbo hoped for a result. “We wanted to participate in the sprint”, sports director, Erik Dekker. “The riders really wanted to fix it as a team, but we made an estimation error. We didn’t get Tom in a good position afterwards. He wasn’t a part of the story of the day and that’s bad.”

Lead-out
The main reason was the lead-out. “I got a puncture with five kilometres to go,” said Dennis van Winden. Van Winden, who is riding his first race after his comeback, is an important man in the lead-out. “The puncture disorganised our plan and made the team insecure. We were just too far behind afterwards. We started our sprint to the last corner too late. But we fought for each other. We just chose the wrong moment. If we keep working together like this, it must pay off.”

Right estimation
There will be two more chances for a sprint result, one of them is Thursday’s stage. “Than we have to make the right estimation and create some chances for Tom,” Erik Dekker said. “We have to show that we’ve learned in those to stages and go for it with Tom.”