Tirreno-Adriatico stage six proved heavy, over the 210 kilometres it rained cats and dogs and forced riders to their limits.

Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Paul Martens did not survive to the end and abandoned with 30 kilometres to go. “He didn’t feel good,” Sports Director Erik Dekker explained. “But it was indeed a heavy stage. It was freezing. The riders were already soaked when the race began. In the beginning of the stage, there was a long descent without many turns. To descend immediately in six degrees without pedalling was a big problem for a lot of riders, many were dropped then.”

Rick Flens handled the conditions well. “Fortunately, I’m a rider who is able to deal with this kind of circumstances,” Flens said. “But these aren’t the finest days for cyclist. I’m glad that I finished in the first group, in the end. The fact that I was strong enough to survive the last climb shows that I’m in a good shape. It was a pity that there was no team leader in my slipstream, though. To give everything that I have to help the leader is my specialty.”

With only a closing individual time trial to come, Tirreno-Adriatico is almost over. “I’m glad that we came through this race without any problems,” Dekker added. “In the end, this became a race without any historical value for our team. That doesn’t matter, it’s part of the job.”