After his recent victory in the Rund um Köln, Team NetApp-Endura were hopeful that Sam Bennett could beat pre-race favourite in the sprint in yesterday's first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk. As the wind split up the peloton, however, he was left with only Blaz Jarz for support and that proved to be costly in the end.

Last year's winner Arnaud Démare took the first stage of the 60th edition of Four Days of Dunkirk. The 163 km stage from Dunkirk to Coudekerque-Branche was marked by a strong wind that dispersed the peloton several times. During the sprint of the decimated main field, Sam Bennett took fifth place, his tenth top 10 finish so far this season.

"When the field broke up, we had Blaz and Sam in the first group. Unfortunately, two riders weren't enough. I wish we could have had four or five riders there in order to support Sam better in the final part of the race. During the final kilometer we were short a rider and therefore Sam had to take off too early and too often in the wind. Although he wasn't ideally positioned on the home stretch, Sam managed to score a good fifth-place finish. That shows what a quality rider he is," says André Schulze.

Today's second stage goes from Hazebrouck to Orchies, covering 166.9 kilometers. Along the way, heading in a southeasterly direction, the peloton will not only pass by Mons-en-Pévèle, which is also part of Paris-Roubaix, but it will also have to travel three times over a 1.7-km cobblestone section.