Jos van Emden has finished second in the prologue of the Criterium du Dauphiné. In the 6.6 kilometre test in Valence, Van Emden was a mere second slower than winner Michal Kwiatkowski.

“I really wanted to win here. That was my goal for this race after a tough Giro. Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed”, a disappointed Van Emden said. “This was a race for the specialists. It was very fast. My time trial was close to perfect, but there was one rider faster. I almost immediately knew that it was a good time and that I was going to be very close to the win. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Sports director Grischa Niermann could confirm Van Emden’s feeling. “This is a pity. Losing with one second is dreadful. Jos did very well today. It would have been nice if we had won. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. We came here without a specific rider for the overall classification. We started with only six riders, because Robert Wagner had to rush to the hospital for the birth of his child. An early success would have been nice.”