At the end of another nervous stage at Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde, Tinkoff’s young sprinter Erik Baška came over the line in ninth position after a hard day out battling climbs and crosswinds. In a strong position coming into the final few kilometres, Erik slipped backwards and had to come from some way back in the push for the line, once again showing a strong turn of speed in a bunch kick.
The race all came back together after the remnants of the day’s breakaway were reeled in with 15km to go. From here the situation remained stable but nervous heading into the finish as the sprint trains lined up for a fast finsh. The guys worked hard to get Erik into a strong position before dropping him off to do his sprint.
Sport Director Tristan Hoffman explained further how the team’s race panned out. “The plan today was to go for a sprint with Erik Baška at the end if the group was all back together. We saw with his win in Handzame that he has a fast finish, and today he was up there but not close enough to the front to mix it for the win. But we can still be satisfied with a ninth place.”
The race got underway to a steadier start than the previous day, with a breakaway of eight riders pulling clear. Behind this the peloton was happy to let them go set a tempo that saw the break extend its lead to over seven minutes. At 211.1km, the longest stage of the race, there was plenty of time to bring the break back and so the Tinkoff riders set about sticking together and out of trouble over the day’s five categorised climbs, included the Kemmelberg.
The race threatened to split inside of 85km to race as crosswinds split the peloton into echelons, but as the pace eased and the direction of the race changed, the groups gradually came back together.
“It was hard again in the crosswinds but eventually the race came back and the guys were all up there,” explained Hoffman. “It was nervous in the bunch and on the cobblestones Michael Kolar and Juraj Sagan both came down in a crash but they were able to rejoin and finish in a good way.”
The front eight was reduced to three as they started to attack each other, and in the final 25km just one remained out front, with a fast reducing gap over less than two minutes. Maciej Bodnar punctured at this point but was able to rejoin, looking relaxed ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s time trial.
Once the race had all come back together, all eyes were on the bunch sprint. “With two kilometres to go the guys brought Erik to the front and onto the back of Quickstep’s lead-out, inside the front 10 riders. This was a good situation but it was hectic and he did what he could to take ninth.
Hoffman finished by saying: “Tomorrow morning we will look to another sprint, and we’ll make a plan this evening for that. And then for the afternoon time trial, Bodnar is focused on a result. There are still opportunities for us here and the guys are focused on the final day tomorrow.”
Erik Baška gave his thoughts on the stage from the team bus, saying: “It was a hard day, a steady tempo from the beginning as the break was let go but then the wind started to increase and the race got harder. Then at 110km we started the climbs, up and down on narrow roads and there were some splits in the bunch here, with Michael and I in the second group so we had to ride to get back to the front.
“Then in the crosswinds there were four of us that got held up in the crash on the cobblestones, so again we had to push to get back up there. Overall I’m satisfied with my shape – it’s getting better and better now, but I would like to be further up in the result today.”
Stage 2 Result
1. Elia Viviani (ITA) Team Sky 5:01:04
2. Marcel Kittel (GER) Etixx-Quickstep +00:00:00
3. Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Katusha +00:00:00
4. Amaury Capiot (BEL) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise +00:00:00
5. Adrien Petit (FRA) Direct Energie +00:00:00
9. Erik Baška (SVK) Tinkoff +00:00:00
45. Juraj Sagan (SVK) Tinkoff +00:00:00
49. Nikolay Trusov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:00
62. Maciej Bodnar (POL) Tinkoff +00:00:00
65. Michael Kolar (SVK) Tinkoff +00:00:00
67. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:00
GC After Stage 2
1. Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Katusha 9:23:24
2. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana +00:00:05
3. Lieuwe Westra (NED) Astana +00:00:10
18. Juraj Sagan (SVK) Tinkoff +00:00:50
21. Nikolay Trusov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:50
84. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +00:13:29
90. Erik Baška (SVK) Tinkoff +00:14:36
98. Maciej Bodnar (POL) Tinkoff +00:14:36
99. Michael Kolar (SVK) Tinkoff +00:14:36
