Timo Roosen has finished seventh in the first stage of the Tour of Slovenia. Normally, the Dutchman is the rider who puts Dylan Groenewegen in position before the finish line, but Groenewegen saw his chances thwarted by a crash.

Groenewegen himself was not directly involved, but he had to break to avoid a crash, which made sprinting impossible for him.

According to Roosen, things became very rough in the last few kilometres. “They came from all sides”, he referred to the other sprint teams in course. “We were on the last wide stretch. But there was a rider who hit us hard in the side. I had to hit the breaks. Once I realized that they had crashed behind me, I went for my own success.”

Roosen eventually finished seventh in the sprint. “I was not good enough to participate for the win. Let’s say it was a good exercise for the Tour. We’ve raced against many sprinttrains. That was a good preparation.”