BMC lived up their status as the overwhelming favourites in the team time trial on stage 5 of the Eneco Tour as the American beat Etixx-QuickStep in a close battle. Arriving at the finish with all 8 riders, they stopped the clock in 23.11 to go six seconds faster than Etixx-QuickStep while LottoNL-Jumbo was a massive 23 seconds behind in a distant third place. Rohan Dennis is back in the leader’ jersey with a 16-second advantage over teammate Taylor Phinney as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) slips to fourth, 27 seconds off the pace.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Dennis: A 27-second advantage over Sagan makes my life easier

BMC Racing Team dominated the Eneco Tour stage 5 team time trial by smashing the 20.9km course to cross the line with a six second margin.

 

As two-time UCI World Champions in the discipline, BMC Racing Team started the stage as the favorites and put in a performance that sees Rohan Dennis take back the overall lead with two stage remaining.

 

The time to beat changed throughout the day and out on the course BMC Racing Team, the third-to-last team to roll down the start ramp, was looking to better 23’17”, the time set by Etixx-QuickStep.

 

In a brilliant show of strength and teamwork BMC Racing Team crossed the line with all eight riders and clocked 23’11” which was more than enough to claim the stage win and reshuffle the General Classification.

 

Dennis now leads the race by 16 seconds over teammate Taylor Phinney, and 24 seconds over Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep). Manuel Quinziato and Greg Van Avermaet sit in seventh and eighth respectively to make it four riders in the top ten for BMC Racing Team.

 

The team time trial win was also enough to put BMC Racing Team in first position on the team classification, 23 seconds in front of Team LottoNL-Jumbo.

 

Rohan Dennis said:

 

“We finished with 8 riders and we showed that there is a reason why we are the number one team in the world when it comes to the TTT. We weren’t too stressed about performing. It was more about how much time we would take out of Sagan and Tinkoff. I am pretty satisfied with how we did.

 

”It wasn’t perfect today. We still have some stuff to work on and you never win easily so everyone in the team suffered a bit but we worked really well together.

 

"Apart from Greg Van Avermaet, this is our world championship team. We're used to the pressure. We have a lot of confidence in each other, but it wasn't perfect yet. Especially in the corners.

 

"Everyone expected that we were going to win but that is easier said than done. You have to go deep during a team time trial. We all went to the extreme and we arrived with eight at the finish line. That's why we were world champions twice in a row in this discipline.

 

"This was a very good test for the upcoming world championship in Qatar. We did the last 3km at 60 kilometers per hour. Eventually we were six seconds faster than Etixx-Quick Step, another team that is good in a team time trial.

 

"It was our intention to gain as much time as possible on Tinkoff and Sagan. Anything above 20 seconds would do.

 

”I would have been happy to finish the TTT with an advantage of anything over 20 seconds and I was aiming personally for around 30 to 40 so to get 34 seconds in the end and bring me to a 27 second advantage in the GC was good. Although it is by no means a given that we will take the win, it will make it a bit easier.

 

“I don’t race in Belgium or Holland that often so I have to look to riders like Greg Van Avermaet, Manuel Quinziato and Daniel Oss for direction and the best thing to do at certain stages at the race. We have Taylor Phinney, Van Avermaet, Quinziato and myself in the top ten so we have a lot of cards to play in that sense and if one of us wins that’s great. If that means the team wins but I lose it doesn’t matter if it is still BMC on the podium.

"The team will ride for me in the final weekend, but the most important thing is to have someone from BMC on the top step op the podium on Sunday. It's good to have a plan B. I've got a stressful weekend ahead, I'm not used to racing on Flemish roads.

 

“I am now leader, but this stage race is certainly not over yet. We still expect two tough stages. Tomorrow is the stage in Limburg with some steep climb. On Sunday we go to part of the route of the Tour of Flanders.

 

"Sagan is and remains the man to beat as regards the overall standings. He is 27 seconds behind. That's really not much with the 'Golden kilometers' and a sprint win. But I can rely on a strong team . Taylor Phinney is second on GC and then there's Greg Van Avermaet. So we have plenty of advantages in our hands, but much depends on the race tomorrow and Sunday. "

 

Fabio Baldato, Sports Director, added:

 

“I’m really proud of the guys’ performance today. We knew that they were strong and had trained well for the team time trial, but to win by that margin is a really good result. We wanted to put in valuable time over Peter Sagan and Tinkoff which we did, and we also put Rohan Dennis back in the lead and really strengthened our position in the General Classification. A result like that gives us confidence ahead of the UCI World Championships and we’ll work hard to refine our team time trial even more. Now we need to focus on the GC and put all of our energy into defending our lead in the next two days.”

 

Van Avermaet: I want to win on Sunday

Greg Van Avermaet said:

 

“It was a great feeling to win with the team. We are World Champions in this discipline so we always have to defend this title every time and we are pretty happy that we did it. We have such a strong team and all eight riders put a real effort into it and that’s what makes us the best team on the day.

 

"It was tough today. We were the favourites, but that doesn't mean you'll easily win. We also achieved our second goal by getting Rohan Dennis back in the lead. He was one of the strongest riders in the team today and would be a worthy winner of the Eneco Tour."

 

"The intention was to win this team time trial. However, to be favorite does not always make it easy. It was really hard but usually that is a very good sign. This was confirmed after the race.

 

"Rohan Dennis is again a leader. What can I do myself? The stage tomorrow is not really anything for me. It should have been more difficult. The stage on Sunday in the Flemish Ardennes is better. I must keep calm, also because we have the leader within our ranks. Rohan Dennis is it the best so it's important that we win this stage race with him. If the opportunity is there to do something, I will make sure not to miss it. Perhaps that is the case on Sunday. I remember especially the strength of our team during the team time trial. We are in good shape. It would be a shame if we lost the Eneco Tour after this effort and now Rohan Dennis is again a leader.

 

"I don't see too many chances for myself. However, on Sunday I will do everything I can to win the stage. The team is strong enough to lead Rohan across the Flemish roads. If you've got strong legs, you'll be at the front anyway. And his legs are strong ..."

 

Van Avermaet is also looking forward to the world championships in Qatar.

 

"Of course Peter Sagan is the main favourite. He already was before the Eneco Tour, but with his spectacular sprint wins he's made an even bigger impression. If he's too good too soon? In Canada I asked him how his form was. 'Bad,' he said. I guess that says it all. Still, we have to keep believing he can be beaten."

 

Martin and Terpstra missed Boonen after near-miss in Eneco Tour TTT

Bob Jungels, Iljo Keisse, Marcel Kittel, Tony Martin, Zdenek Stybar, Matteo Trentin, Niki Terpstra and Matteo Trentin were keen to show that Etixx – Quick-Step still is one of the best outfits in the world in the races against the clock, even though the team was missing a quintessential rider, Tom Boonen, who was forced to abandon during the previous stage, due to a crash in which he was involved.

 

A fairly flat but technical 20.9-km long course was in store on Friday afternoon in the Netherlands, and Etixx – Quick-Step left the start house full of confidence for the stage dubbed by many as one of the most important at this year's edition, and rode a solid and smooth team time trial, at the end of which the squad bettered the result of provisional leader IAM Cycling by 20 seconds and went into the hot seat with a time of 23:17.

 

Eventually, BMC set a time six seconds faster, but Etixx – Quick-Step's runner up spot which the team got with one rider less came as confirmation that everything is on the right track ahead of the World Championships in Doha, scheduled next month. On top of it all, the team placed no less than four riders in the top 10 overall, all within striking distance of race leader Rohan Dennis, with just two days to go.

 

One of these men is Tony Martin, the 2010 Eneco Tour winner, who is third in the GC:

 

"This was one of the nicest team time trial I've ever done. The course was beautiful and our team was strong and coherent. Every rider gave it his all and was motivated to work hard for a good result. We missed Tom Boonen, as he is a super strong guy and as the 8th man we could have saved more energy, but we are satisfied with the way we rode."

 

Tony's feelings were echoed by Niki Terpstra, 5th in the standings, who will give the team more cards to play in the final stages of the Eneco Tour:

 

"It's a pity Tom wasn't here, because he is a big turbo for the team. We raced with seven riders and at the end of the day we are happy. We enjoyed the course, the corners and the small climbs, but mostly how strong we were during the day, as this gives us confidence for the future."

 

LottoNL-Jumbo: There’s still work to do to compete with BMC in a TTT

Team LottoNL-Jumbo placed third in the fifth stage of the Eneco Tour today. BMC Racing won the 20.9-kilometre team time trial in 23-11 minutes, six seconds faster than Etixx and 23 seconds faster than team LottoNL-Jumbo. Rohan Dennis (BMC) took the lead in the GC. 

 

The team averaged 53.2 kilometres per hour in Sittard-Geleen. Wilco Kelderman had a tough day.

 

"In the beginning, it was not good, I was not following the wheels well and that cost a lot of energy. In the end, I came around and improved my rhythm,” Kelderman said. "It’s a cool discipline because you do everything together, from preparing to the suffering."

 

Sprinter Dylan Groenewegen finished with the five men.

 

"We kept our GC guys well in the standings. We gave everything and this is the result,” Groenewegen said. “A sprinter is made for this sort of thing, short turns and then pushing the pace.”

 

Jos van Emden remains the team’s best rider in the classification, but he dropped to sixth overall.

 

"Third was actually good for us,” Van Emden said. "Maybe I was riding too fast on the first climb when Robert Wagner got into trouble. Today, I went like a rocket, but it makes the rest of the guys suffer more. I started with the idea to compete for the win."

 

Trainer Mathieu Heijboer analysed the last test before the world championship team time trial in October.

"We delivered a good performance, third in this field is good,” he said. “But there is certainly work to be done in order to be as fast as BMC and Etixx. The ambition was to stay close to BMC, and 23 seconds is quite a lot.”

 

Heijboer explained a big difference is that BMC finished with eight men and Team LottoNL-Jumbo with just five.

 

“We lost a rider too early and therefore we lost time."

 

Movistar comfirm TTT prowess with fourth place at the Eneco Tour

Stage five of the Eneco Tour confirmed the Movistar Team as one of the arguably four or five squads to take into account in every TTT. Following its magnificent performance in the Vuelta a España - only two tenths of a second away from victory - the squad directed by Garcia Acosta and Jaimerena took a promising 4th spot at the course in and around Sittard-Geleen (20.9km), just 25" behind current World champions and victors BMC. The fact that only Imanol Erviti was present in both lineups underlines the fact that the telephone squad is one able to perform strong at all terrains, no matter the squad, as they will seek to improve last year's Worlds TTT bronze come October in Doha.

 

Serious elevations will come in  the weekend, starting with Saturday's 197km from Riemst to Lanaken, with two climbs of Muizenberg and Halembaye plus an additional passage through Trois Fontaines, which Jasha Sütterlin will tackle just off the GC top-ten (13th), 39" behind new leader Rohan Dennis (BMC). In turn, a second group directed by José Luis Laguía - with Amador, Betancur, Lobato, Carapaz, Dayer Quintana, Visconti and Dani / Javi Moreno - will start their duo of classics this weekend with the Giro dell'Emilia.

 

IAM: We rivaled some of the best teams in the world

Rik Verbrugghe, the sports manager for the only Swiss team at the World Tour level, analyze IAM’s fifth place.

 

“IAM Cycling rivaled some of the best teams in this specialty. A top-5 is always a good result for the team, but we missed the podium by just a few seconds. We may have been a bit too tentative on the two climbs of the day, but overall the guys completely followed all instructions that we gave them before the start.”

 

Rik Verbrugghe confirmed at the end of the stage that IAM Cycling would not be travelling to Doha in order to participate in the world championships for team time trials.

 

Martin Elmiger celebrated his 38th birthday, which includes his 16 seasons as a professional racer, today. The 2014 Swiss road champion worked hard with his teammates during this time trial and received a nice 5th place result as a birthday gift.

 

Matthias Brändle said:

 

“We lacked enough speed especially during that second climb, and we just were not able to have the perfect performance. In spite of that, we put down a pretty good time for an adequate result. And we still have the weekend to go for that beautiful stage win.”

 

Oliver Naesen added:

 

“Winning a stage at this level is not an easy thing to do, especially with the sort of riders present, but the weekend looks like it’ll have some hot racing. With two stages, one that is a replica of the Amstel Gold Race and one on Sunday that resembles the Tour of Flanders with two climbs up the mur de Grammont, the battle for the general classification will be intense.”

 

Lotto Soudal: We knew that we could do a good TTT

With 23 minutes and 40 seconds, Lotto Soudal set the fastest time for a while. In the end they finished sixth, 29 seconds behind the world champion BMC. Sports director Herman Frison is happy with the result of the team.

 

 “We finished sixth in the team time trial today. We even left several teams that are known for their team time trial skills behind us, so we can be pleased with that. Of course, with the team that we have here at the Eneco Tour, we knew a good result was possible. Lotto Soudal was the twelfth team to start the time trial and we set the best time at the finish. The teams that beat us all have better time trial specialists than we have. So the sixth place is a well-deserved result.

“All day long we were focussed on the team time trial. We did two recons of the course. The start of the time trial was very good, for a long time we had eight men on board and there were no big problems during the race. Of course every single one of the riders kept pushing their limits, but it resulted in a very good sixth place.
 

“There are only two days left in the Eneco Tour but both will be important for the general classification. For sure we’re going to do our best in the next couple of days and we’ll try to continue like we did on Thursday in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. The goal is to achieve some good results and then we’ll see what happens in the GC.”

 

Giant-Alpecin pleased with solid TTT at the Eneco Tour

With an average speed of 52.8 km/h, Team Giant-Alpecin raced to 7th in 23’44”, 33″ behind the stage winner.

 

Coach Morten Bennekou said:

 

“Looking back on the day in general, we did a really good preparation. During our recon of the parcours, we did a good analysis of it and we made a plan with the whole team. In terms of results, we finished seventh, 33″ seconds from the winner, which is what we expected. However, you can see that it is really close between the third position and the rest of the teams. Our guys showed a really strong level today, I expect that we will keep on improving and we can be very satisfied with this result.”

 

Sagan: With bonus seconds, everything is still possible

Today’s team time trial was, from the off, ear-marked as a stage that would re-shuffle the GC, and at the end of the 20.9km effort Tinkoff crossed the line with a time of 23’45”, leaving them eighth on the stage. Going into the day in the white skinsuit of race leader, after back-to-back stage wins, Peter Sagan slipped down to fourth on GC, 27” down, but with two tough days still ahead where anything could happen.

 

The race crossed back into The Netherlands for today's stage, with the start and finish in Sittard-Geleen and a quite technical parcours to tackle as a unit. With Sagan the race leader, the team was the last off the start ramp, and had the other times for reference ahead of them. It was a case of pacing the effort right and navigating the technicalities on the route, as Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman explained:

 

“There was street furniture, corners, speed bumps and two climbs to get through, the first after just 6km. We wanted to have everyone together over that climb so maybe we lost a little time there but then we had the whole team to pull over the top. In the last kilometres we lost guys one by one but that was OK.

 

“In the end it was eighth, we hoped for a top five but the boys did everything right so we can’t complain. Maybe we missed a bit of speed in the start but we had a plan and they stuck to it and gave their all. The GC will be difficult now with 27" in it, but everything is possible, especially with Peter.”

 

Starting with eight riders, the team stuck together until around halfway where one by one the guys gave one big final pull before dropping off, to leave four eventually in the final 1500m. Sagan, Erik Baška, Maciej Bodnar and Pavel Brutt were left to finish off the job, and crossed the line 34” down on the fastest time, finishing with an average speed of just shy of 53km/h.

 

After warming down, Sagan added:

 

"We knew it would be a difficult team time trial as we were racing against some of the world's best teams. We gave our best and I don't see what we could have done better. I am now fourth in the GC, 27 seconds behind Dennis but with all the bonus seconds up for grabs in the last two stages, we still have options. It will be tough and we will have to race smart on Saturday and Sunday."

 

Sky missed Kiryienka in Eneco Tour TTT

Team Sky produced a strong ride in the stage five Eneco Tour team time trial to finish ninth, 38 seconds behind winners BMC.

 

Having been one of the first outfits to tackle the 20.9 kilometre course in Sittard, the team went into an early lead, stopping the clock at 23 minutes and 49 seconds.

 

They were overhauled though, with BMC taking the day's victory ahead of Etixx - Quick-Step and LottoNL-Jumbo, and the win moved Rohan Dennis (BMC) back into the race lead, with Peter Sagan relinquishing the leader's jersey after his Tinkoff team finished eighth.

 

In the absence of Vasil Kiryienka, who crashed out of the race midway through stage four, the team started the TTT with just seven riders and battled hard, finishing with the minimum of four riders, after Lars Petter Nordhaug, Andy Fenn and Luke Rowe had lost contact.

 

Geraint Thomas, Danny van Poppel, Michal Kwiatkowski and Ben Swift forged on as a foursome for the final 5km, crossing the line together.

 

Speaking after the stage Sport Director Servais Knaven praised the ride, pointing out that the loss of Kiryienka was always likely to hamper the team's efforts.

 

He said: "It was a decent performance and the loss of Kiry cost us some time, for sure. We lost some guys midway through then finished with four. Not all of the guys here are specialists so we're happy with that. Finishing ninth is OK.

 

"You cannot plan when you lose someone, but you hope that you can keep the guys together as long as possible. There was two climbs on the course and we lost Lars Petter Nordhaug just before the first climb, then Andy Fenn midway up the climb, then Luke Rowe went with 5km to go, so we did the last part with four guys. Of course, that's the difference - if you look at other teams who had six, seven or eight guys left, they've gone quicker."

 

Knaven revealed that Kiryienka had tried to carry on after his crash on stage four, but the pain was too much.

 

He added: "Kiry crashed on one of the cobbled sections yesterday. We don't know exactly, but we think there was a bottle on the road, and he went over that. He didn't remember what happened and it took a while before he got back on the bike, then he had lots of pain, so he stopped."

 

There's two stages to go and Knaven added that the team will be targeting victory on both days.

 

"Tomorrow we will try to win the stage with Danny. It's not flat, but it's also not super, super hard, so I expect a pretty big group at the finish. Then Sunday is the hardest day, with the Muur. The GC will be shaken up a little bit there, but it will be hard to beat the strong guys at the front on GC. We will try to win the stage and see where that leaves us."

Katusha use Eneco TTT to prepare for Doha

The team time trial took place on Friday at the 12th Eneco Tour with Team KATUSHA’s group of 8 riders performing well on the 20.9km course in Sittard-Geleen. They just missed being in the top ten by taking eleventh place, but were only 3-seconds behind Team Sky and satisfied that they had put up a good race.

 

”I am really happy with the boys today. It’s always a special moment when we have a team time trial because they don’t happen so often, but it’s a discipline with a lot of history and future. The whole team worked well together right from the start. We saw all 8 riders working as a unit! We had no misunderstandings or confusion in the technical sections and everybody gave his best,” said sports director Torsten Schmidt.

 

”It’s important to race here in Eneco Tour in preparation for the World Championships in two weeks. There are many things to test and check in preparation for that race and it was absolutely good to be here for those things with the people you will have racing,” said Torsten Schmidt.

 

Astana: This was in line with our expectations

"We did the first part of the time trial with the best teams and then, in the last kilometers, we missed something,” commented Astana sports director Gorazd Stangelj after their 12th place.

 

"Overall we went in line with expectations and now we focus on the last two difficult stages.”

 

Orica-BikeExchange disappointed after Eneco Tour team time trial

ORICA-BikeExchange produced a solid performance on the stage five team time trial at the Eneco Tour in Holland today, provisionally taking the leaders spot before eventually slipping to 14th place.

 

The 20.9kilometres course was fast and challenging with the Australian outfit the pick of the early starters, completing the course in 24minutes 22seconds.

 

Sport director Laurenzo Lapage was realistic in his assessment.

 

“Of course we are slightly disappointed,” said Lapage. “We wanted to do better and the boys gave it a good go, but we were suffering from the crashes yesterday and our performance over the first ten kilometres let us down today.

 

“We got better in the second half and the guys really tried to claw back some time, but in the end it wasn’t to be.

 

“As we saw a lot of teams have their world championship time trial squads here and we don’t so we never entered the stage expecting to win although we know we can do better.

 

“There are two very tough days ahead now and for sure we are going to do our best to try and get a good stage result, it will be difficult against this field but we will give it our best shot.”

 

Team time trial costly for Boasson Hagen at the Eneco Tour

It was a fast 20.9km loop around Sittard-Geleen and the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders were the first team to start today. It’s always difficult starting first with no real gauge as to what time is possible when the course is completed at race pace. The African Team, not known for ability against the clock, had hoped to put in a solid team in order to still keep Edvald Boasson Hagen in the running for a good overall position.

 

After Bernie Eisel did not complete yesterday’s 4th stage, the African Team hit the road with 7 riders and the guys consistently kept the speedometer above the 50km/h mark. Crossing the line in a time of 24’49”, they could only wait to see how our effort would stack up against the other 21 teams.

 

In the end, BMC Racing showed their strength in this particular discipline, finishing with a time 1’36” faster than the African Team. Although a time just 30 seconds faster would have seen the team gain as many as 5 positions, they would have to settle for 19th on the day.  This result meant Boasson Hagen is now over 2’00” down on overall race leader, Rohan Dennis (BMC) and puts a real damper on the GC aspirations for this event. There are still 2 stages to come this weekend and no doubt the African Team will be fighting all the way to the finish.

 

Johann van Zyl said:

 

”We gave the TTT what we could but as the other the other teams came in it was clear we were a bit off the pace. The race is not over, there are still two tough stages coming this weekend and that is what we will concentrate on now. We have been close to a stage win already so if everything comes together, we can finish the race off on a high.”