The Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders had a very tough race in the Ardèche on Sunday. Bert-Jan Lindeman attacked early on the hilly profile of La Drome Classic and the other riders also gave everything they had.

“I really wanted to be in this breakaway,” Bert-Jan Lindeman said after the race. “Yesterday, I tried to get to the lead several times as well, but I failed, unfortunately. However, I did it today and that makes today’s efforts even nicer. It was a pity that we were with just four. I was hoping that I would become part of a leading group with about ten riders. That would have given us a little bit of a chance. Today I knew that we weren’t going to make it until the end.”

Intermediate sprint
On the tough hills of the race, Lindeman was the strongest rider in the leading group. Which brought him a small price. “I won the intermediate sprint on one of the hills,” he said. “I took the lead every time we were on a climb. I was trying to keep the pace as high as possible. That led to a victory at the intermediate sprint. It was nice to obtain that.”

Erik Dekker
Team leader Erik Dekker was satisfied with his team. “It was a special profile today,” he said. “It was really tough and I have to be honest, we had no riders who are able to obtain a top classification in these kind of races. But everyone gave everything they had in the end and I’m satisfied with that. Especially Barry Markus did a great job. He performed on a profile that is far beyond his specialties.”