The Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders had a very tough race in the Ardèche on Sunday. Bert-Jan Lindeman attacked early on the hilly profile of La Drome Classic and the other riders also gave everything they had.

“I really wanted to be in this breakaway,” Bert-Jan Lindeman said after the race. “Yesterday, I tried to get to the lead several times as well, but I failed, unfortunately. However, I did it today and that makes today’s efforts even nicer. It was a pity that we were with just four. I was hoping that I would become part of a leading group with about ten riders. That would have given us a little bit of a chance. Today I knew that we weren’t going to make it until the end.”

On the tough hills of the race, Lindeman was the strongest rider in the leading group. Which brought him a small price. “I won the intermediate sprint on one of the hills,” he said. “I took the lead every time we were on a climb. I was trying to keep the pace as high as possible. That led to a victory at the intermediate sprint. It was nice to obtain that.”

Team leader Erik Dekker was satisfied with his team. “It was a special profile today,” he said. “It was really tough and I have to be honest, we had no riders who are able to obtain a top classification in these kind of races. But everyone gave everything they had in the end and I’m satisfied with that. Especially Barry Markus did a great job. He performed on a profile that is far beyond his specialties.”