Lotto-Belisol produced one of the unexpected rides of Tuesday’s stage four team time trial in the Tour de France, ultimately coming fifth after clocking the second best time behind Omega Pharma-Quick Step at the first intermediate point of the day.

Lotto-Belisol’s spot in fifth, 16 seconds slower than Orica-GreenEDGE was sufficient to keep their overall contender Jurgen Van den Broeck well placed in the general classification. As neither Orica-GreenEDGE nor Omega Pharma-Quick Step looks likely to challenge for the overall, Van den Broeck’s position in relation to Sky’s Chris Froome and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) left the Belgian in a good mood after the stage.

Van den Broeck is currently 14th in the general classification, barely nine seconds behind Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) while Chris Froome (Sky) is currently seventh, 14 seconds ahead of Van den Broeck.

“I am very satisfied with this result. We have done the maximum that was possible,” Van den Broeck stated afterward. “We were going at 60km per hour. It was a strong performance by the whole team. We have a strong sprint train, and you cannot underestimate the value of this. It comes in handy in the team time trial. Someone like Adam Hansen – he is a bear of a man. He’s made for this work.”

Van den Broeck was more than pleased to leave Corsica behind unhurt and without losing time to the other main overall contenders.

“Only Orica-GreenEdge, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Sky and Saxo-Tinkoff topped us, so we are obviously very happy with this performance. I must admit, to be 14 seconds down to Chris Froome, I can live with that. I was glad to have left Corsica unscathed, losing no time. Now I am extra relieved that I am so close in the standings after the important first four days with such a strong team performance.”

With a cluster of flat stages making up the race itinerary before the peloton hits the Pyrenees in the weekend, the Lotto-Belisol will re-direct its attention to assist André Greipel in his quest for a stage win.