Tom Van Asbroeck won the second stage of the Tour du Poitou Charentes today in France. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Belgian sprinter had goose bumps during the final kilometres of the stage because of his team-mates’ perfect lead-out and followed through with it, also taking the overall lead.

“I’m speechless,” Van Asbroeck said after his first victory as a Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider. “I yearned for a win. The team supported me. They believed in my chances even more than I did.

“I had goose bumps because of the team’s level. Bert-Jan Lindeman absolutely flew to the front straight through the wind in the final four kilometres of the race. When we only had 1.5 kilometres left, I still had four team-mates in front of me. That was when I thought, ‘Damn, we’re doing a great job!’

“I felt comfortable and that gave me a euphoric feeling. After Bert-Jan, Robert Wagner took the matters in his hands and Dennis van Winden brought us to the foot of the final hill afterwards. The pace Sep Vanmarcke set at that little uphill almost scared me. With 300 metres to go, he gave another knock at it. It was unbelievable, Sep is as strong as a bear.

“The team delivered a phenomenal performance and I should have been ashamed if I didn’t finish it off. I wouldn’t dare to show myself anymore.”

Crash

Sports Director Frans Maassen enjoyed his sprinter’s words. “It’s great to hear Tom saying this,” he said. “There was a crash in the final sprint, but according to Sep, the other sprinters never would have been able to close the gap on Tom anyway. He didn’t steel this victory.

“The only setback of this stage was that Wilco Kelderman was involved in that crash, but he barely suffered any damage, fortunately.”