Tom Van Asbroeck finished seventh Thursday in the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse. After a 193-kilometre stage between Wil and Biel/Bienne, the Belgian rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo witnessed first-hand how Peter Sagan (Saxo-Tinkoff) claimed the stage victory some metres in front of him. 

Earlier on Thursday, Moreno Hofland also finished seventh in the second stage of the Ster ZLM Toer. 

“Sep (Vanmarcke) dropped me off into the wheel of Alexander Kirstoff and Mark Cavendish in the final kilometre,” Van Asbroeck analysed his sprint after the stage. “So I was in a good position. I was still hindered by a rider who let himself slide back through the peloton, though. I had to go around him and that was my first minor error.”

Van Asbroeck said he made his second mistake with 400 meters to go.

“At that point, the riders in front of me moved from side to side as if they were approaching a corner. I stopped pedalling, but there was no turn, it was 200 meters further down the road,” the 25-year-old sprinter stated disappointed. 

The peloton broke into several groups in the final kilometres because of two roundabouts. As a result, Laurens ten Dam and Robert Gesink both lost a few seconds to the sprinters. Sports Director Nico Verhoeven wasn’t too worried about that.

“Geraint Thomas (Sky) was the only overall rider who was able to follow the sprinters. The rest finished in the same time as Lau and Robert. So not much happened and I don’t feel the need to talk about this with the boys. But I have to say that the finish was pretty dangerous. It was narrow and right before the final straight, there was a filthy corner.” 
 

Friday’s stage begins where the race ended on Thursday, in Biel/Bienne. After 164 kilometres, the pack will finish in Düdingen. Despite the various hills and the fact that the final 800 metres are slightly uphill, a sprinter has the best chance of winning.

“Tom is doing better and better on the climbs, but we also have Paul Martens, who’s strong on such an arrival and perhaps even Robert is able to show himself”,  Verhoeven concluded.