Moreno Hofland sprinted to 11th today in stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia. The young Dutchman of Team LottoNL-Jumbo, who finished second in the second stage on Sunday, wasn’t able to mix in for the stage win in Castiglione della Pescaia. Lotto-Soudal’s André Greipel claimed the victory.

The bunch sprint was marred by a big crash. Fortunately, all Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders managed to stay upright. Maglia Rosa Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) did fall, but remains the overall leader. Maarten Tjallingii and Rick Flens supported Hofland until the final three kilometres on Thursday. Nick van der Lijke was the final lead-out man and dropped off his teammate in Greipel’s wheel with 1.5 km to go.

“That was a strong move by Nick,” Hofland said to the LottoNL-jumbo website. “When the pace suddenly lowered, some riders passed me, though, and I got boxed in. Because of the crash I also had to hit my brakes and that ruined my chances.”

Sports Director Jan Boven wasn’t particularly satisfied with the result, but saw that his riders executed the plan well. Bert-Jan Lindeman’s efforts helped to catch the five-man break in time, after which Tjallingii, Flens and Van der Lijke dropped off Hofland for the sprint.

“The feeling after a stage is of course determined by your results, but the execution of the plan was as agreed,” Boven said.

The riders face the longest stage of this year’s Giro tomorrow. They need to tackle a whopping 264 kilometres. The race heads from Grosseto to Fiuggi.

“It will be a day of surprises,” Boven predicted. “It could go either way. An escape has a good chance, but a sprinter that can handle the hills in the final could win as well.”