Belkin Pro Cycling Team’s Bram Tankink tried to force a hard race today in the Omloop van het Houtland, but paid for his efforts in the final. After being part of the breakaway, he finished sixth in the Lichtervelde, Belgium, after a two-hundred-kilometre race. Team Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise’s Jelle Wallays won.

“Wallays attacked in the final two kilometres,” said Tankink to the Belkin website. “I tried to bridge, but when I almost caught up with him, I was reeled in by the others. I waited until someone else closed the gap, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. After that, it was over for me. A shame, because this was a great opportunity.”

Belkin Pro Cycling Team’s Sports Director Frans Maassen expected a bunch sprint prior to the race, but the conditions were too difficult for that.

“The race started hectically,” Maassen said. “Five men got away in the first fifty kilometres and after that, the peloton split because of the wind. We were in the first group with several men. When we started the local lap, eighteen riders, including Bram, bridged to the leaders. They were almost caught in the final, but the sprint teams were too tired after all the wind and rain.”

Theo Bos and Moreno Hofland were ready to sprint for the win if the peloton would have closed to gap, but that wasn’t the case. Bos finished twentieth. Hofland was hindered by a crash and had to settle for 80th.