Nils Eekhoff 5th in Limgoes after good teamwork on grippy stage

Saturday’s stage was one that could have potentially gone to the break, but in the end it was as showdown between sprinters, puncheurs and even GC riders alike; with Nils Eekhoff taking a strong fifth place for Team dsm-firmenich at the line.

Rolling out from Libourne, the opening 120 kilometres of the stage were mostly flat but the following 80 kilometres would feature hardly any flat road, and there was a sense early in the stage that a break might make it. One of the most fierce fights to form the move followed but eventually only three riders would break free and it was clear that a peloton, of some size, would fight it out at the finish. Rallying around Nils Eekhoff as the team’s finisher for the stage, the men in navy blue rode well as a group all day.

Taking the fight up early at around 25 kilometres to go, they held their position well as the peloton fought its way over the tougher climbs. Coming over the last categorised ascent inside ten kilometres remaining, Romain Bardet brought Eekhoff to the front. Making the same move inside the flamme rouge, Bardet was able to keep eighth place on GC secure, while Eekhoff went all-in for the stage result. Digging deep on the dragging and stinging kick to the line, Eekhoff managed to power past several riders and held on to the line; taking a brilliant fifth place – his first WorldTour level top five finish.

Speaking after the finish, Eekhoff said: “The guys looked after me during the stage well, which gave some motivation. I was looking for the right wheel to move up to the front in the finale. I was in the wheel of Philipsen but Groenwegen pushed in a little bit so I needed to look for the right slipstream again. Romain then came back and brought me up into a really good position before the final corner. From there it was just all-out to the finish, which was painful. These kind of finishes are good for me I think, and I enjoy them. I’m really happy that the team gave me my first chance in the Tour to go for a top result and I’m really happy with the fifth place.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Matt Winston added: “It was a pretty hard final there in hot conditions once again. The guys did a good job positioning at the front of the peloton. We knew it was going to be narrow roads so we know that there might be some hectic moments. It was really important that we stayed together so we could come into the final as fresh as possible with Romain, to be able to protect the GC, but also with Nils to go for it in the sprint. I think the guys did a really good job. We lost a couple of guys a little bit earlier due to the conditions, hard roads and the investment that we made. Romain and Nils worked really well together in the final. Romain was in good position and Nils followed a move and slipped back in the peloton. Romain went back for him, which is a massive effort from a GC guy, brought him back to the front and Nils did a really good finish there in fifth spot. I think we can be happy with that performance.”