Vlad Van Mechelen powers to 2nd after great team display in Tour Alsace

Photo Credit: Freddy Guérin/DirectVelo

Vlad van Mechelen has crowned a great day in the saddle for Development Team dsm-firmenich as he crossed the finish line in 2nd position after the whole team showed a massive effort all day long in stage two of Tour Alsace.

Despite the name of the Elsace Tour, the peloton rolled out from the nearby German amusement park Europa-park on Thursday. Beforehand, a bunch sprint for the fast men was predicted because of the mostly flat parcours, crossing the finish line in Sélestat after 166.1 kilometres and with fast riders like Patrick Eddy and Vlad Van Mechelen in the squad, the team gave it their all to make the stage culminate in a sprint.

Only three riders were allowed to go in the break at the start of the day, whilst Development Team dsm-firmenich then maintained a tight leash with big efforts from Joost Brinkman, Frank van den Broek, Enzo Leijnse and Moritz Kärsten. Eventually, the break did not gain a big advantage and was chased down with 50 kilometres to go. After the team defended several attacks, they stayed upfront the peloton, setting the pace high. Coming into the deep finale, the team made one last big effort to position Van Mechelen well for the bunch sprint, after which the Belgian gave it his all and powered to a massive 2nd place.

After his 2nd place, Van Mechelen commented: “It was a flat stage and initially we had the plan to go with Pat for the sprint. The whole day we rode amazingly as a team, one of our finest days in terms of teamwork. Coming into the finale, it was super fast and hectic and Pat unfortunately lost his position. Then, I had to quickly adapt and made the call to sprint myself. This wasn’t ideal, but I gave it my all and can be happy with the decent result, finishing 2nd on the line.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Bennie Lambregts added: “I think we started the Tour Alsace well with this second place – but even more important is the good performance of the whole team. The guys were in control all day and kept the break at a bridgeable distance, so that they could close it in the final. Actually, the intention was to sprint with Pat Eddy, but he called in time for Vlad Van Mechelen to take over, who then only fell short for the stage victory. All in all, we can be happy with today’s stage and are looking forward to tomorrow.”