Moreno Hofland was the strongest in the fourth stage of the Ster ZLM Toer. The Dutch sprinter won the bunch sprint on the La Gileppe and delivered Team LottoNL-Jumbo their second victory of the 2015 season.

After Hofland was beaten just by millimetres in yesterday’s third stage, Team LottoNL-Jumbo showed that they were resolute to win the stage on Saturday. On the hilly roads of the Belgium Ardennes, the team was in the driver’s seat all day.

“Lotto-Soudal wasn’t in a hurry while closing the gap with the breakaway,” sports director Erik Dekker explained. “Because of that, our guys took the initiative. They took it for Moreno, so it’s wonderful that he was able to finish it. Martijn Keizer’s job was done with 2,5 kilometres to go. He came to me afterwards, and said that he was sure that Moreno was going to win. That conviction makes it even more special for me.”

Fantastic
“This is absolutely fantastic, especially on this hard profile,” a happy Hofland said after his victory. “I felt that my legs were good early in the stage. We chose to ride as a team, and set a high pace on every hill together. I was one of the best uphill today, and it’s nice to confirm that with the victory. Last month, I started the Giro d’Italia in good shape and finished it with a good feeling, too. Now, I feel that I’m even getting better day by day, and I’m very happy to prove that with today’s win.”

Bonus seconds
On Sunday’s final stage, there’s a lot on the line for Hofland in the Ster ZLM Toer. With his victory, he moved up to the third place in the general classification. When you look at the hundredths of a second, he is less than ten seconds behind leader André Greipel. Hofland therefore only needs ten bonus seconds to win the overall.
 
“It’s surely going to end up in a bunch sprint”, Dekker said. “The question is if there will be an opportunity to grab some bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints. There are more scenarios possible, and we’re going to take a look at that together.”