Moreno Hofland finished fifth in the first stage of the Tour de Pologne today. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter started his sprint in Warsaw just a little bit too late. Davide Martinelli (Etixx - Quick Step) won.

“It was a chaotic first day,” Moreno Hofland said. “There was some rain predicted and that would have been tricky on this profile. It stayed dry, fortunately.

“This was my first race since a while and it went quite well. I did the final part of the race together with Dennis van Winden. I only lost his wheel for a little while during a descent, but I had enough speed to get back with the first five riders in the group. I came through the final turn in third position, eventually, but I doubted for a second to start sprinting. The riders behind me made their move immediately and boxed me in. I’m fed up with that.”

Sports Director Addy Engels sees some other chances for Hofland, this week. “We’re going to play a role in the bunch sprints with Moreno, this week,” he added. “And on the days that are too hard for the sprinters, we have Enrico Battaglin. Primoz Roglic is aiming for the general classification.”

The second stage on Wednesday is comparable to the first one.

“Normally, it’s going to end up in a bunch sprint,” Engels concluded. “We’re going to approach it the same way as we did today.”