The Tour of Belgium got underway today. Zdenek had to ride the first stage in service of the team and finished in the middle of the peloton. The win went to the German, André Greipel, who was the fastest in the sprint.
The flat 162 kilometer stage took the riders from Mechelen to Buggenhout. A group of eight escaped from the peloton, but would eventually be caught in the finale by Styby and his Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates.
“It was mostly the work of Iljo Keisse and Matteo Trentin,” Zdenek said after the stage. “Niki Terpstra and I took over towards the end. We tried to keep our sprinters in front, but unfortunately that didn’t work. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
The team’s missed opportunity was not the only thing on Zdenek’s mind. “I’m thinking about Roman Kreuziger. He had a bad day in the Giro and maybe lost his chance to finish on the podium. It’s really unfortunate, but anyone can have a bad day.”
“I know Roman did his best preparing for this Giro and I hope he can show that in the coming days. I wish him the best of luck.”