Styby has won the second stage of the Eneco Tour in Vlijmen. In the sprint he was faster than Lars Boom and Sep Vanmarcke. Our champion also takes the lead in the general classification. “Tomorrow there is a time trial already, but I will try to defend the jersey.”
A group of three rode all day in the front. In the rainy final they were caught and the others could fight for the win. Because of the rain the roads were again slippery and the rain also caused several flat tires and some crashes.
The peloton broke up in the final. Zdenek was in front. “I knew I had to sit there, because in the last few kilometers there were some cobbles. Just after the cobbles Lars Boom went in the attack. I did not hesitate to go with him.”
Also the Italian Manuel Quinziato was there. “But we didn’t cooperate very well. I knew if I rode with them, I could lose my sprint. In the last kilometer a few riders came back and Bauke Mollema attacked immediately. I had to close the gap, because two of his teammates were in my wheel.”
Styby took over with 250 meters to go and won after a strong sprint. “For a moment I thought I went too early and that I made a mistake. But fortunately I managed to keep the rest behind. I knew I had to keep an eye on Boom today, because he grew up in Vlijmen and has a lot of fans here.”
Because of his victory, Styby now leads the general classification. “But tomorrow there is a time trial. Fortunately its only 9 kilometers long. I’m not a specialist, but I have trained a lot on my time trial bike. I am curious and I’ll do my very best tomorrow.”
“The condition is good. A second final victory? Maybe so. I’m going for it. But first the time trial. Then on Friday the difficult work begins with the stage to Geraardsbergen, which I won last year. Finally I want to thank my team for the work today.”
Results 1. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 04:06:16 2. Lars Boom (Ned) + 0 3. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) + 0 4. Marco Marcato (Ita) + 0 5. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) + 0By Niels De Wit on 12/08/2014
