Thanks to amazing teamwork all week long, Dutchman Nick van der Lijke has finished the Tour Alsace as 9th in the general classification.
As per usual, the Tour Alsace finished with a rather special opening team time trial. With teams separated into two parts of three riders, things were getting kicked off in the east of France. For Leopard TOGT there was not a great result to be noted, but nothing was lost as well.
After a flat stage and a bunch sprint on the second day, things became interesting for stage three, as the riders had to take on the famous climb of La Plance des Belles Filles. Leopard TOGT took control, sent Robin Juel Skivild up the road, and tried to support Nick van der Lijke as much as possible. In the end, 31-year-old Van der Lijke claimed eleventh position on the day, crossing the line 1’25 behind the stage winner. It saw him move up to 9th overall.
Day four was one of the best team performances we have seen all year. Van der Lijke showed courage by joining the breakaway, together with his teammate Robin Juel Skivild. Thanks to gaining bonification seconds along the way, the Duchman now move up to 7th in the GC with just one stage to go. Thing got a little tricky with a bike change for Van der Lijke at 16 kilometers from the finish, but powerhouse Miguel Heidemann rode him back to the front in no-time. To top it all off, the rest of the team did a hug lead-out for sprinter Tim Torn Teutenberg, who finished the stage as fourth.
In a thrilling closing stage, the team was again very active. Robin Juel Skivild was once again part of the breakaway, but as soon as we went into the business end of the stage, a group of eleven strong riders went clear. Amongst them: Miguel Heidemann and Nick van der Lijke. The situation was perfect, but it was in the end not enough when the pack exploded and reeled the guys back in. Tim Torn Teutenberg won the sprint of the peloton for 12th, and unfortunately Van der Lijke dropped back down to 9th in the GC.
All in all a great week of racing!
Result Tour Alsace – 2.2
1 / Sebastian Berwick (AUS) 14:42:46
9 / Nick van der Lijke (NLD) + 1:34
34 / Miguel Heidemann (GER) + 6:00
60 / Tim Torn Teutenberg (GER) + 14:42
64 / Loïc Bettendorff (LUX) + 14:52
70 / Robin Juel Skivild (DEN) + 17:40
78 / Kasper Viberg Søgaard (DEN) + 19:40
