Bert-Jan Lindeman's long escape failed to withstand a hungry peloton in the sixth stage of Spain’s Volta Ciclista a Catalunya today. The Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider emerged from the original breakaway of nine men with three other riders, but a sprinting bunch passed them with only 200 metres remaining and Davide Cimolai (Lampre - Merida) won.

The Team LottoNL-Jumbo men already fought for their chance to be part of the leading group in yesterday’s fifth stage, and that wasn’t different on Saturday. Primoz Roglic, Robert Gesink and Bert-Jan Lindeman escaped in small groups. Lindeman succeeded eventually.

“It was a beautiful leading group with strong riders,” Sports Director Frans Maassen said after the race. “They didn’t get the space we were expecting, though. It’s quite a miracle that they still went that far. That they got caught in the sprint is annoying of course.”

No looking back

Lindeman was fed up. “When we had less than 15 kilometres remaining, the road went slightly uphill again and it became narrower,” he said. “That’s when I thought that we still had a chance to make it. We were distancing others in front, so the pace was high. We worked well together in the final kilometres. With two kilometres to go, I heard that we only had eight seconds over the group. From that moment, I refused to look back and gave it all for the stage victory.”

The prevalent feeling after the race was disappointment. “Yesterday, we already gave it all. We had a bad feeling about it because we didn’t make the leading group. Today, we have a bad feeling because Bert-Jan’s attack failed just before the finish.”