BMC Racing Team's Jempy Drucker sprinted to third place on Monday's opening stage of the Eneco Tour to notch his second straight podium finish.
Winner of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic earlier this month, Drucker followed the wheel of runner-up Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) in the last 500 meters as Elia Viviani (Team Sky) took the win.
"Van Poppel's wheel was a good one and I tried to move up in the last 50 meters, but it was too short," Drucker said. "I had good speed and was feeling strong enough to come across. It was a pity that the finish line came too fast."
Sport Director Valerio Piva said it was important for the BMC Racing Team to contribute to the chase of a six-man breakaway that was eventually caught in the last 16 kilometers of the 183.5 km race.
"We put Rick Zabel on the front for some kilometers because we have two important guys for the general classification here and we did not want to give up three minutes on the first day," Piva said. "Jempy was amazing in the sprint and he had good help from Manuel Quinziato in the last kilometers."
BMC Racing Team's Daniel Oss did not take the start due to lingering injuries from a collision with a motorcycle during training last week.
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