Sep Vanmarcke, Paul Martens and Robert Gesink crossed the line seventh, 11th and 16th, respectively, in the seventh stage of the Tour de Suisse on Friday. Team LottoNL-Jumbo showed up in force in the front of a bunch sprint, which was won by Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha).

“We knew that it would probably end up in a bunch sprint”, sports director Nico Verhoeven said.. “We performed well as a team today, and were nicely placed the whole time.

"You can see that we improved every day since the start here in Switzerland. Mike Teunissen and Tom Van Asbroeck were two of the last five finishers in the first stage. Today, only 80 riders made it to the bunch kick, and they were among them. Paul Martens increased his form every day of this stage race as well. He finished just outside the top-10 today, but he was there.”

Martens also feels that he is improving, but wants more.

“The Tour de Suisse is my first race in a long time”, he said. “I’m trying to take a new step in my development every day, and today was the first time that I had the chance to be part of a race finale. I’m quite satisfied about how it’s going right now, but I have to deliver something extra. You want to play a decisive role in every stage, but after my fractures, it’s not a surprise that I’m not able to compete with the best riders in the world immediately. I feel that I’m improving every day, and that’s a positive thing.”

The penultimate day of the Tour de Suisse is going to be heavy.

“It’s a tough stage with a lot of climbing”, Verhoeven said. “I think the peloton will split up in pieces. We have to make sure that we’re in the right position to take part of the fight for the stage win. Which one of us is there, it doesn’t matter, so long as the team is present.”