Robert Gesink and Laurens ten Dam showed themselves Monday with strong rides in the third stage of the Tour de Suisse. The two riders of Team LottoNL-Jumbo were able to stay in the first group of 32 riders in the Swiss mountains, as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff – Saxo Bank) won the sprint of the reduced peloton. Gesink finished 14th and remains 17th in the overall standings.

 “The race went the way we hoped”, sports director Jan Boven said after the stage. “On the first climb of the day, the pace wasn’t very high. That was good for some of our men. After that climb, the breakaway was getting a lot of space, but that gap was closed quite fast in the end. We had to make sure that Robert and Laurens were in good position before the last turn to the left, before the second ascent started. Sep Vanmarcke and Bert-Jan Lindeman led them to the right spot. Robert and Laurens were able to finish the stage in the first group and both tried to escape in the stage finale. It’s a good thing that they showed themselves, even if we knew that Sagan was going to win today.”

Top form
Laurens ten Dam was the first of the team leaders of Team LottoNL-Jumbo to try to create a gap. He tried to surprise the rest of the leading group with a relatively long attack. “No guts, no glory”, he explained. “It was nice to take a real part in a race finale again. The good feeling is coming back, finally. It should have, after all the hard work. I’m satisfied with my performance today. For now, I have to make sure that I’m in top form next month.”

Same tactics
The fourth day in the Tour de Suisse will be challenging yet again, with a tough climb half way the stage and another difficult finale. “We will try to do it with the same tactics as today”, Boven said. “Robert and Laurens have to keep themselves in front of the general classification, and maybe Paul Martens and Sep Vanmarcke are able to make it through the climbs in the finale as well.”