Dylan Groenewegen has finished in fourth place in the fourth stage of the Tour de France. The 25-year-old sprinter of Team LottoNL-Jumbo got boxed in a few times in the chaotic final, after which he couldn’t sprint all out.

Team captain Steven Kruijswijk crashed twice during the stage, but he was able to complete the race without any time loss and injuries.

The stage evolved traditionally with a leading group that got a maximum of eight minutes and was only chased down in the last kilometre. Yet it was far from a quiet day with two massive crashes. Team LottoNL-Jumbo didn’t get through the stage unharmed, because Amund Jansen was also involved in a crash. As it seemed, he didn’t suffer any serious injuries, apart from some abrasions. Jansen managed to come back to the front and was able to do his part of the job for Groenewegen, together with Timo Roosen and Paul Martens.

Groenewegen was very disappointed in the result. “I was good today. The legs felt great. In the sprint I got boxed in several times, so I always had to re-launch my sprint. When I see my sprint and take into account how my legs felt, I’m disappointed that I didn’t win. That’s a pity, because there aren’t many opportunities.”

Team captain Kruijswijk was happy that he finished the stage in one piece. “This was one of these days that you think it’ll go quietly and then they crash a few times. I was well-positioned in the front to stay out of trouble, or so I thought, but then they crashed in front of me. Luckily I crashed on top of others and Robert was the guardian angel who handed over his bike. Luckily for me, it ended well and I didn’t lose any time.”