Dylan van Baarle was the big loser in today's stage of the Eneco Tour as his heroic ride in the rain ended with second place and a 1-second deficit in the overall standings.

"Congrats and thanks for this day @johan_Lebon ! Shit to be second but that's also cycling ! 2 more hard days coming up. Go go @Ride_Argyle," he tweeted after the stage before adding.

"And also thanks to all the people that were cheering for me. Was super nice to hear my name that many times."

Van Baarle's ride was reminiscent of his performance in a stage of last year's Tour of Britain where a strong performance in a breakaway set him up for overall victory.

Tomorrow he faces a tough challenge in a mini Liege-Bastogne-Liege which could be a bit too hard for the cobbled classics specialist.