There was reason for both joy and sadness in the Vanendert family after yesterday's second stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. While stomach problems forced Jelle to abandon his most important preparation race for the Ardennes classics, younger brother Dennis took a career best 5th in the final sprint.

The abandonment is a huge blow to Jelle's ambitions later this month in Belgium and the Netherlands. The classics specialist was the most consistent performer in the Ardennes last year where he ended up 2nd in the Amstel Gold Race, 4th in the Fleche Wallone and 10th in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

He had hoped to improve on those performances this year where he once again was expected to lead his Lotto-Belisol team. With his abandonment, he will now miss his most important preparation event, and it is a huge blow to his chances. The team will now take a closer look at his race program and decide whether a replacement event should be included.

On the other hand, younger brother Dennis was happy to take his best ever result as a professional.  Up until yesterday, an 8th place in a stage in last year's Tour of Denmark and 8th in this year's Clasica Almeria was his best performances, but his 5th place in a WorldTour sprint is a marked improvement of his previous accomplishments.

Dennis is a different type of rider than Jelle. While Jelle has grown to fame through his strength in the climbs, the younger Vanendert brother is a fast finisher who can mix it up in a bunch sprint at the end of a hard race. He is in his 2nd year as a professional and hopes to continue his improvement throughout this season.

Dennis will now step into the background as the GC favourites take center stage in today's third stage of the race. He will aim to support Bart De Clercq's overall aspirations after pre-race captain Jurgen Van Den Broeck has lost all chances due to a crash in the opening stage.

Starting at 14.45, you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.