The third stage of the Eneco Tour ended up much as the previous two days have, in a bunch sprint, and like the two stages before Team Giant-Alpecin missed out on a top 10 placing at the finish with Nikias Arndt first home in 16th.

The race was all set for a sprint in the final 15km with the day’s three breakaway riders being successfully reeled back in, but the technical finish saw the lead-out falter slightly as the team dropped back as the finish got closer. In the fast finish it was Tom Boonen (Etixx – Quickstep) who proved quickest taking the win while Jesper Asselman (Team Roompot Oranje Peloton) maintains the overall race lead.

Unfortunately the team was reduced to seven today as Albert Timmer had to withdraw from the race, suffering from a broken scaphoid suffered in a fall while warming up.

“The stage was another controlled one like the past few days with a small breakaway up the road before things came back together for a sprint,” explained coach Mattias Reck after the stage. “Our plan today was to aim to take the lead between five and three kilometres to go, through the technical corners and then if we aren’t able to defend our position here we would at least be able to come through the twisting final in a good way.

“This worked well in the beginning but we were a bit too stressed with our tempo and so we lost a guy too early. In the end it wasn’t possible to get Nikias into a good position and this left him outside the top placings. On the positive side we were where we wanted to be with four kilometres to go where there was a big fight for position and also Zico [Waeytens]was riding and learning as a lead-out man today which he took on well.”