Dylan Groenewegen finished seventh in the Tour de France’s sixth stage to Montauban today. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s sprinter stayed in front of the peloton during the final kilometres of the race thanks to his team-mates, but ended up in the first spots too early. Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) won the bunch sprint.

During the final eight kilometres, the yellow, black and white colours of Team LottoNL-Jumbo were clearly visible in the front of the peloton. Paul Martens and Maarten Wynants were working together to lead the sprint train and keep Robert Wagner and Groenewegen out of the wind. Sep Vanmarcke and Timo Roosen weren’t behind them, though. That was the reason that the lead-out ended up at the first row of the peloton too early.

“We didn’t have enough men for that scenario,” Dylan Groenewegen said. “That’s why I had to change plans. I had to surf between the wheels of the other sprinters to find the right position and I got boxed in during that search. I’m not happy at all with this seventh place. My sprint is good, but we came to the front too early. I know that we’re here to learn, but so much more is possible. That’s frustrating.”

Communication

“Some parts of the plan didn’t go well today,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman added. “We wanted to deliver a real lead-out, though, but we needed Sep Vanmarcke and Timo Roosen for it. They lost Dylan’s wheel during the fight. They fought like lions, but didn’t came through. Paul, Maarten and Robert did a good job to hold Dylan in front of the peloton, but Robert thought that Sep and Timo were in his slipstream. To communicate in a moment like that is impossible. What he did was good anyway because many riders are passing on the right and left side.”

With 1.5 kilometre to go, Wagner took the lead of the peloton. He pushed up the pace thinking that Vanmarcke and Roosen were able to finish it off afterwards.

“We were packed together quite well all the time,” the German explained. “Paul and Maarten held us out of the wind very well. Dylan shouted to me during the final kilometres, but I didn’t hear it. You’re riding through a tunnel of noise during such a sprint preparation. That was our problem today. We know what we have to do, but the execution isn’t perfect, yet.”