Everyone expected a bunch sprint into Boxtel, but they were actually treated to an unexpected solo victor when Matthew Brammeier (MTN - Qhubeka) rolled in on his own.  The Irish rider surprised the peloton by attacking with ten kilometers to go to the finish, and then to win by a nose and a beard ahead of the sprinters including André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), who still managed to win the overall. 

IAM Cycling was also able to show its strength late in the stage by playing with several of its assets for the sprint.  Ultimately, it was the team’s young sprinter, Sondre Holst Enger, who finished in the top ten with a great 7th place in the final stage of the Ster ZLM Toer.

When asked to give his assessment of the day, Rubens Bertogliati was satisfied with the attitude and performance of the Swiss professional team throughout the event. 

“This Sunday, the stage was very complicated.  They raced à bloc from the start, and then having the rain from start to finish only made everything tougher.  We were all prepared for a sprint finish, but the end was very dangerous.  I think it gave more than one rider pause.  That may be why some teams were riding at the beginning, but then later let off the accelerator.

"As for as the race in general, I draw a lot of positive things from our team.  We won a stage, were very present in a breakaway, and defended our place in the standings.  If we want to be really picky about how we performed, yes we could have done better on certain stages, but we must remember some of our problems were a result simply of bad luck.  Every day we tried our best, but this was a very controlled race, perhaps too controlled.  But that’s the game. 

"Ultimately, this is a race that will be very beneficial to riders like Pirmin Lang, Marcel Aregger, and Thomas Degand to prepare for their national championships.  I think they will arrive at those races in good form next weekend.”