Bert-Jan Lindeman was in the mix for victory in the Volta Limburg Classic for a long time and animated the Dutch one-day race in Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s colours with his offensive style of racing.

Moreno Hofland, who crossed the finish line in Eijsden with his hands in the air last year, lost his title to BMC’s Stefan Küng. The Swiss soloed to the win.

Lindeman attacked in last year’s edition, as well. Today, he forced his way into a breakaway soon after the start and led until very late. The Dutchman faded and was caught with only 15 kilometres from the finish line in Eijsden.
 
Küng bridged to the attackers and shot free just before the chase group connected with the break.
 

“It was a good effort,” Lindeman said. “It was a shame that the group behind us, led by CCC, started chasing so early. That was what went wrong today.

“I rode a good, solid race. Maybe I was in the lead a little early, but if you want to win, you need to take risks. I was in the first group right from the first kilometre. In the final, I was just empty. It was a tough race. Next year, I’ll be back hopefully.”
 

Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk were attentive when Lindeman was dropped. The two talented overall riders chased Küng in the final, but the solo attempt of the individual pursuit world champion proved to be just too much. Kelderman sprinted to eighth place, Kruijswijk tenth.
 
“I saw a nice race, although obviously I would’ve preferred a different scenario,” Sports Director Frans Maassen said.

“The men fought for their worth. Bert-Jan was in the break and rode a fantastic race. When Küng jumped to the leaders, we missed out. That was a mistake, but we were with a small crew today and not able to respond to everything.”