Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to fourth place in the uphill finish of the Tour de France’s fourth stage in Limoges. The Dutch champion of Team LottoNL-Jumbo had to come from far behind during the chaotic final part of the race, but improved over the last days. Marcel Kittel (Etixx - Quick Step) won.

“We’re improving,” Groenewegen said while he tried to recover from his long final sprint. “It was tough, but we did a good job with the team. This time, I’m satisfied. I didn’t feel very strong, actually, but Sep Vanmarcke told me that I would be able to pass through that feeling. I got over it and went for it.

“We were still in front with four of us for the final. I was boxed in for a while during the sprint, but found some space afterwards to finish fourth. I came from quite far behind, but was able to come back quite strongly. It’s my own fault that I had to come from too far behind, I needed to be further up. My sprint was strong so this is promising for the upcoming stages.”

Groenewegen faced many obstacles in the final part of the race and even had to jump over a traffic island. “I don’t like to brake, so I chose to jump,” he continued. “If everything comes together, I might be able to win a stage in this Tour.”

Impressed

Sep Vanmarcke was enthusiastic about the performance. “It was a hard, chaotic final part of the race,” the Belgian said. “We wanted to unite as well as possible, which isn’t easy when it goes uphill, downhill, to the left and to the right. Making matters worse, we lost Robert Wagner because of a puncture.

“I’m impressed by Dylan to survive this stage because it really was a tricky one. This fourth place is a beautiful result. We’re moving up as a team. We’re able to bring him from quite far and his final sprint is strong.”

Vanmarcke, who took 12th, thought that Groenewegen was still in his wheel during the final metres, but he wasn’t. “It looked like everything ended up quite well when Timo Roosen, Sep and Dylan came back together,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “When Sep moved forward, Dylan got boxed in and lost his wheel. Timo did a strong job to bring him back in position. They moved up on the left side. Dylan had to start is sprint a lot earlier than Kittel, for example, but delivered an impressive final kick.”

To improvise

“When I led out Dylan, I felt how hard it was today,” Roosen explained. “It went uphill and we had to deal with a headwind, as well, so I fell back quite quickly. I still was able to bring Dylan quite far, but he still had to make up a lot of distance. It was very tough today with some tricky climbs in the final part of the race. We had to improvise to bring Dylan in the right position.”

“What we’re doing at the moment was our goal before the Tour de France,” Zeeman added. “We’re taking part in the sprints. We experience what sprinting in the Tour de France is about and learn from it. That’s what we want and we’re only able to do that.”

Climbs

On Wednesday, the fifth stage of the Tour de France won’t end up in a bunch sprint. “We’re facing a tough profile with two hard climbs in the final part of it,” Zeeman said. “Wilco Kelderman will be able to survive it and George Bennett might be good enough as well.”