Wilco Kelderman sprinted to the sixth place in the second stage of the Tour de France in Cherbourg today. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s climber was able to keep himself in front during the specialists’ finish. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) won the stage and took the yellow jersey from Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data).

Kelderman already said after the first stage of the Tour de France that he wanted to go for his chances on Sunday and stay focussed the whole day. “I aimed for a top result and it went well,” he said. “It was very chaotic during the final 10 kilometres. There was a lot of twisting and turning. I was always among the first 30 riders and had a good position. I found my spot in the finale and got the space to sprint. This sixth place gives me a good feeling.”

It didn’t look like that the bunch sprint was going to be for the stage win, because the breakaway stayed quite long. Jasper Stuyven (Trek - Segafredo) was caught with only 500 metres to go. “I thought that they were going to make it,” Kelderman continued. “But at a certain moment, it went very fast in the peloton and the pace was high on the climbs, as well.”

Specialists

Sports Director Merijn Zeeman added, “Before the race, no one gave the breakaway a chance because there were too much to aim for today. We really want to choose when to attack in this Tour de France so we can have a chance to make it when we do. The breakaway didn’t make it in the end and Wilco sprinted to sixth place. He did a terrific job. This was a finish for the specialists and it became a classic fight among the top favourites. Wilco was among them.”