Team LottoNL-Jumbo wasn’t able to mix in on the bunch sprint of the 20th edition of the Vattenfall Cyclassics on Sunday because of two crashes. German André Greipel of Lotto Soudal triumphed in front of his home crowd.

Sep Vanmarcke was involved in a crash in the final two kilometres after having tried to surprise the peloton with an attack a little earlier. Moreno Hofland had to put a cross over his ambitions when he hit the tarmac with 40 kilometres to go. The team’s strategy was focussed on both men. Vanmarcke was handed a free role, while Hofland was allowed to save energy for the sprint.

“Of course we’re disappointed,” Vanmarcke said. “We wanted to perform today with Moreno and myself, and as a team we did what we had to do for that, but because of bad luck we both crashed. I went down with two kilometres to go when a rider bumped into me from the back, just when Jos van Emden had dropped me off at the front for the sprint. The damage is not too bad. I have a bit of a headache and my hip hurts. Hopefully I'll feel better on Tuesday, when I’ll start Poitou Charentes.”

“Hamburg is always a difficult race, because you know almost certainly that there will be a sprint, but you still want to do something with those hills," Vanmarcke explained his attack. “Today not many dared to do something and in addition, there was a headwind. Then you know you can’t stay ahead very long.”

Jan Boven

“The final 50 kilometres were hectic as always,” Sports Director Jan Boven analysed. “You sensed it would go wrong somewhere. With about 40 kilometres to go, a few riders hit a traffic island. We lost Moreno Hofland, Nick van der Lijke and Robert Wagner there. Nick and Moreno managed to reconnect despite losing three and a half minutes, but on the climb they paid for their efforts. Moreno is okay but he will be a little stiff after his crash. Yeah, we are disappointed. We had a good plan and we had options to execute it, but we never got to execute it.”