Robert Gesink has finished 44th in the individual time trial of Paris-Nice. The 31-year-old rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo ended 1 minute and 48 seconds behind winner Wout Poels. In the coming days, the team hopes to continue on the success of Dylan Groenewegen in the second stage.

Sports director Nico Verhoeven doesn’t have any ambitions for the general classification with his formation. “Robert Gesink didn’t ride a bad time trial, but it wasn’t good enough to compete with the top riders. For the other guys, it was just important to get through the day considering there are important stages coming up.”

There are still some opportunities for the team. “We could have another chance tomorrow with Dylan. However, the riders will have to deal with many altitude metres. So we’ll have to wait and see. Afterwards, there are three more beautiful stages for Robert. Perhaps he can compete for a stage victory.”