Van Asbroeck sprints to 11th in Vuelta uphill kick
Tom Van Asbroeck finished just outside the top ten in Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. The Belgian Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider ended up 11th in Alcalá de Guadaíra after a tough sprint.
Tom Van Asbroeck finished just outside the top ten in Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. The Belgian Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider ended up 11th in Alcalá de Guadaíra after a tough sprint.
The 167-kilometre stage was won by Orica-GreenEdge’s Caleb Ewan. However, the Australian team did lose the red jersey after its cyclist Estaban Chaves lost a few seconds on the slightly uphill final. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) is the new overall leader.
“Erik Dekker checked the arrival early this morning,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said afterwards. “He saw that the final hundred metres were pretty tough and in our opinion, it was a bit too difficult for Tom. We were right. Tom rode a strong sprint, but on an arrival like this, he’s not yet able to interfere with the world’s best riders. The boys worked hard for Tom, though. We are improving.”
Tom Van Asbroeck
“They kept me perfectly out of the wind all day,” Van Asbroeck said. “Maarten Wynants could drop me off with five kilometres to go, but he went on until the final two. That was great effort.
“A final straight like today’s used to suit me, but of course, that was when I was still riding at EuropeTour level. I started my sprint in the wheel of Degenkolb, but to get there, I’d already had to accelerate. In the final part, I exploded and shut down completely.”
Attacks
The sixth stage runs from Córdoba to the Sierra de Cazorla, 200 kilometres. “We have to wait and see what the favourites do and want,” Zeeman said. “The profile offers opportunities for attackers as we’ll be arriving on a climb of the third category. People can expect us to attack again.”
