A strong prologue from Ramon Sinkeldam saw the Dutch rider finish the opening stage of the Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg in sixth place, just 7 seconds down on stage winner Adrien Petit (FRA). Zico Waeytens (BEL) came in 24th, 12 seconds adrift.

“We had a good day, with strong rides from Ramon and Zico today, and the other riders performed decently as well,” said Addy Engels. “Only Lars [van der Haar] still had some pain in his shoulders, so we will have to see how he goes in the coming days. We should be heading for a sprint tomorrow, so we’ll see how we can do there with Ramon again.”

“I am really satisfied and I am actually a bit surprised that I was able to get such a result,” said Sinkeldam. “In such a short prologue it is about small things, and everything went perfectly for me today. I’m looking forward now to tomorrow’s stage.”