Moreno Hofland finished fourth in the second stage of the Giro d’Italia. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter ended up behind Marcel Kittel (Etixx - Quick Step), Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre - Merida) in the bunch sprint in Nijmegen. Maarten Tjallingii was part of the leading group for the biggest part of the day and won the combatively award.

Tjallingii said already before the Giro d’Italia that he was very motivated for the first weekend of the race in his area and he proved that with being part of the early breakaway. “I wanted to give the fans something to cheer for,” he said. “I enjoyed it. It was fantastic to see al those people on the roads.”

Tjallingii lost the mountain sprint in Berg en Dal, so he didn’t grab the mountain jersey with his escape. “I tried to surprise Omar Fraile (Dimension Data), but I wasn’t able to fight back to his wheel when I left open a small gap. I won two points, though. I’m going to try it another time again tomorrow, so if I win that mountain sprint, I will have the blue jersey.”

Goosebumps

Jan Boven followed Tjallingii during the race. “It was a little party,” the sports director said. “The people came out in numbers to watch the race and it was beautiful to see that everything was pink. Maarten told me that he had goose bumps during the stage. This was a highlight for him.”

When Tjallingii was caught with 20 kilometres to go, the two main tasks for Team LottoNL-Jumbo started. Front man Steven Kruijswijk was protected in the final part of the race and Moreno Hofland’s was prepared. “Bram Tankink was with Steven Kruijswijk and covered him,” Boven added. “Hofland was able to profit and was in good position most of the time.”

Confidence

“It was a hectic final, but I stood my ground,” Hofland said. “I was in the right place after Twan Castelijns and Bram worked for Steven. I followed the FDJ train afterwards, ended up in Caleb Ewan’s wheel, and was able to pass some riders eventually. This fourth place gives me confidence. I started my way up today.”