Zdenek has done a good job for the classification in the Eneco Tour. In the sixth stage with arrival at La Redoute he finished second after David Lopez Garcia. “Too bad I didn’t win the stage here, but I think I must be happy also with second place.”
“It was a really hard stage, already from the beginning”, Styby said. “There were big groups in the attack and it was not easy to make sure that someone from our team was always in front. I tried after thirteen kilometers, in sign of the intermediate sprint, but I killed my legs.”
Luckily it was better after some time. “And on the second last climb of La Redoute I was in a group with around ten guys. But I couldn’t work with them, because Sylvain Chavanel, our leader, was not with us and I had to wait for him. It was the perfect situation for me.”
Tom Dumoulin, who virtually took over the leader’s jersey from Lars Boom during the final, drove himself completely empty. “I must say: chapeau! He was really strong today. I think that he was barely always in the lead for the last fifteen kilometers.”
The Dutchman led the group with Zdenek therefore very close to the depleted leading group. “In the last kilometer we saw them. In the uphill sprint I went on the big gear, but I just couldn’t take the win. Unfortunately, but second is not bad.”
“It was a huge risk to begin the sprint so early. Or I take the win, or I ‘parked’ completely. It was neither of the two, but second in the outcome”, said our champion, who is now second in the overall classification with nine seconds down to Dumoulin.
Tomorrow is the last stage of the Eneco Tour en that one brings the riders over the Muur and Bosberg to Geraardsbergen. “It’s difficult to predict what will happen, but I’ll do my best anyway.”