Van der Hoorn was a man with a plan at the start of the third stage between Essen and Hoogerheide. “I planned this breakaway yesterday,” the Dutchman said. “On the climb 800m before the finish I was going to attack and try to keep going until the finish. But Battistella saw through it, so I had to gamble on my sprint. Usually I’m not quick enough, but today I managed to win.”
When asked how the breakaway managed to stay out of the peloton’s reach, Van der Hoorn acknowledged today’s breakaway was a massive effort. “And at the start I already had to sprint to catch the break. It cost me a lot of energy, but I got something in return. I think Livyns [who let the breakaway go] won’t sleep well tonight.
“If you looked at the names in the break, you knew this could go far, especially with an engine like Durbridge. Tactically we did a perfect job. By working together we managed to save some energy and then go flat out from 40km to go. On those small roads in the final it was hard for the peloton to control the race.”
