The stage from Hatta, with the necessary altitude meters, was controlled from the start. Two riders got a maximum lead of almost four minutes, but were already reeled in before the last twenty kilometres of the stage commenced.

Our GC rider Laurens De Plus did not start anymore this morning. The Belgian, last year’s winner of the BinckBank Tour, wasn’t feeling fit and returned home.

“The plan was to sprint with Dylan”, Roosen said. “He was still in the main peloton after the two climbs in the final. The boys were well-positioned in the front and I dropped back to pick up Dylan. Unfortunately the pace remained high and Dylan was riding on his limit. To get back to the front myself was very difficult. With a few sprints, I finally managed to do so, especially with the help of Christoph, Tony and Koen. But because I came a long way, I rode on the limit in the last kilometre. In the frenzy of the preparation for the sprint, I did not have anything left in my legs to get into a good position for the final turns. As a result, I was a little too far when turning up the final steep stretch of the Hatta Dam.”

Sports director Grischa Niermann concurred with the words of his rider. “The intention was to go for a sprint with Dylan. When the final turned out to be too tough for him, we changed plans and tried to go for a good result with Timo.”