The 180.7-kilometer stage two at the Eneco Tour was a straightforward sprint stage: two men formed the day’s escape, an easily controllable move, and with 15 kilometers remaining they were tucked back in peloton and the sprinters’ teams ruled the road to the end.

Danny van Poppel could not find the right wheels in Tuesday’s finale as two of the best leadout trains, Lotto-Soudal and Etixx-Quick Step, controlled the final kilometers, and unlike stage one it was a better-organized ending. 

With a textbook leadout, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) easily sprinted to victory, as van Poppel, a little too far back and no door opening at the last second, could muster no better than fifth.

“For a long time he was in good position with 3, 4, 5 kilometers to go, but in the end the trains of Lotto and Etixx they were simply stronger than our guys.  We were no longer in front to start the last kilometer and we have a fifth place and that’s it, nothing more to say about it but that we gave it our best.

“Our boys were okay today, but we have to be honest when we see the quality of riders that do the leadout for Greipel and Boonen – they are used to preparing the sprints at a high level and they have a little more horsepower and we can’t compete head to head with them. But we keep going - there are other ways to win using our strengths. "

Tomorrow stage three is projected to be another bunch sprint finish, followed by a time trial and then three final stages that mimic a mini version of Amstel Gold, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Flanders.

“Marco [Coledan] had a little crash today, but he is okay,” Demol continued. “Tomorrow will be another sprint and the finish is in my home town Ardooie. We have a finish there every year with the same three local circuits and it’s no secret, it's pretty certain to be a sprint finish, so let's hope we can do better than we did today.

“We will decide in the race again who will make the sprint between Danny and Giacomo [Nizzolo]. We have two young, fast guys who are both in good condition and have proved themselves lately and both deserve to have a chance. The rest of the team has to be in service of them and we also need to keep an eye on Fabio [Felline] because he is our GC rider.”