Barry Markus completed the circle for Team LottoNL-Jumbo on Thursday. After Jos van Emden and Wilco Kelderman finishing first and second respectively in the stage 4 time trial of the Eneco Tour, the young sprinter finished third in stage two of the Tour de l’Ain. Markus finished behind Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Lille Métropole).

Bouhanni is still leading the overall classification. The French rider has a 15 seconds advantage over Mike Teunissen, who two days ago won the prologue.

“The other boys helped Mike to sprint and I was allowed to go for my own chances, but in the run-up to the sprint, I ended up following Mike’s wheel”, Markus said. “He decided to give me a lead-out. I entered the final corner as fourth and was able to overtake one rider in front of me in the sprint. Bouhanni was just too fast, but I’m glad I got the opportunity here.”

“It was a good thing that Mike still managed to help Barry despite being too far back in the sprint”, stated Sports Director Erik Dekker.

Friday’s stage consists of the first real mountains.

“A handful of times we head to an altitude of over 700 meters. I don’t think the riders will finish one by one, but it’s going to be a hard day. For the riders who will ride the Vuelta a España it is going to be an important stage as they need racing at higher altitudes.”