Tinkoff-Saxo’s Michael Kolar claimed 2nd place behind winner Nacer Bouhanni at GP d’Isbergues – Pas de Calais. After 204 fast kilometers that saw a persistent breakaway effort from team stagiaire Antwan Tolhoek, the race conclusion came down to a bunch sprint finish. Sunday’s result concludes three days of back-to-back one-day racing in France and Belgium, where Tinkoff-Saxo has claimed two 2nd places.

“We knew that Bouhanni was likely the fastest sprinter today and that was the case in the end. Kolar was second and did a very good sprint. In the end, it was a very close sprint. Antwan Tolhoek, our young stagiaire, was in the breakaway the entire day and ended up winning the mountain prize, so he was on the podium as well. His presence in the break meant that our guys could take it a bit more easy and didn’t have to work at the front”, says Steven de Jongh.

“In the end, after the breakaway was caught, we focused on setting up the sprint for Kolar and maximizing his chances against Bouhanni. Nikolay Trusov did an excellent job for Kolar and it was a close sprint in the end”, adds de Jongh about the 204km of racing from and to Isbergues.

Grand Prix d’Isbergues – Pas de Calais rounds off three straight consecutive days of racing for Tinkoff-Saxo in Belgium and France. The squad takes home two 2nd places.

“I’m pretty satisfied with their effort. We ended up with two podium finishes, which is objectively a good outcome. But it’s naturally never fun to finish second. I’m happy with the stagiaires and the effort they’ve made. Trusov took 2nd place Friday and Kolar equaled that today”, finishes Steven de Jongh.