From the gun in Carlisle, attacks rained down. After a few kilometres, 15 men were free with Tom Leezer and Bert-Jan Lindeman. They gained up to five minutes when they hit the hills of the Lake District. 

 

"It was a very difficult stage with a lot of twisting and turning roads, and climbs," said Lindeman. "I felt strong and forced it on a difficult climb 30 kilometres from the finish. I managed to breakaway with four other riders. The favourites were closing on us. With 15 kilometres to go, I got cramps and unfortunately, I had no chance when fresh strong riders closed the gap to us."

 

Movistar Team and One Pro Cycling closed the gap and forced a change in plans.

Opportunities
"We wanted to go well because we saw opportunities today," explained Sports Director Merijn Zeeman. ”It all looked very favourable, but then Movistar started to chase. The gap was just one and a half minutes at one point, and you know that the favourites are going to attack and everything changes. They swallowed up the breakaway. Paul Martens punctured at that time and could not go with them so we lost our grip on the race."

Tuesday
Dylan Groenewegen, who crashed yesterday, survived to the finish with a group at 13 minutes behind and explained that he feels better. A stage of almost 180 kilometres with the three climbs is on the program tomorrow. Lindeman added, "I'm very satisfied with my condition and will try to make the break again.”