Danny van Poppel sprinted to third place in a windy 180.4-kilometer stage two at the Ster ZLM Toer won by André Greipel (Lotto Soudal)

The wind wreaked havoc all day making for a nervous peloton and a very stressful race. On the three local laps with 40 kilometers to go the peloton split into three as they chased down a five-man breakaway, and Danny van Poppel successfully made the front group.

“I knew the area very well because it’s close to my house, and I knew it was always small roads and with the wind a good possibility for echelons all day.  At one moment on the local laps echelons formed and I was one of the last riders to bridge the gap. I was alone from the team," he said.

Earlier in the race Boy van Poppel lost contact to the peloton after a mechanical, and when the splits occurred in the final laps Gert Steegmans valiantly tried to bridge across from the second group to the first with Nikolas Maes (Etixx Quick Step). However, they could get no closer than 50 seconds before relinquishing their effort.

Although Danny van Poppel was alone and isolated in the decimated front peloton he managed well in the final sprint, making a calculated effort to jump into the top three before the final corner to take third behind stage winner Greipel and Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen).

Danny van Poppel explained, “I chose the wheels of the Giant [Alpecin] guys, and before the last corner they were blocked in and I had to make a big sprint to jump to the front.  I grabbed Edward Theuns wheel and I followed him and we went through the corner with Greipel first, then Theuns, then me, and that is how we finished.  I could not make more because I was already tired from the effort to get there. But I am happy with third after such a hard day on small roads, with all the wind and lots of crashes.”

Kristof Vandewalle pulled out of the race after bravely trying to ride through pain from a broken finger he sustained in a crash at the Giro d’Italia;  in the end the bumping and jarring of the Dutch roads proved too much and he was forced to stop.

Director Adriano Baffi: “The wind was a factor all day, and the first split was around 70-80 riders. We had four in the front with Eugenio [Alafaci], Marco [Coledan], Gert [Steegmans], and Danny. Boy had a broken wheel and was unable to get back or he would have been there too.

“In the local circuit the main group split and around 30-40 in the front and we had only Danny.  For sure Greipel was the favorite and Danny had to fight hard for position and he found the wheel of Theuns. He made a great effort to get third.”

Danny van Poppel moved into second overall, two seconds behind Greipel.