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2016 Eneco Tour Stage 5: BMC wins team time trial, Dennis back in lead

Sagan drops to fourth with two stages remaining

September 23, 2016
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Rohan Dennis pulled back his Eneco Tour leader’s jersey from Peter Sagan Friday after the Australian’s BMC outfit won the team time trial in Sitard, the Netherlands.

The 20.9-km Sitard course described a deflated, warped figure-8 and was fairly flat. Reigning world champions BMC had to be the favourites, and Dennis was likely to take back his leader’s jersey from Sagan.


Dimension Data’s early 24:47 fell to Lampre’s 24:32. Trek-Segafredo bettered that with 24:23. Crack squad Orica-BikeExchange, the 2014 world champions, then grabbed the lead with 24:22.

Even though Sky lost a couple of men on the course, the gang bettered Orica by 32-seconds. Lotto-Soudal, motivated to help Tim Wellens win his third consecutive Eneco Tour, climbed onto the hot sofa with 23:40.

BMC left the start house full of confidence. Only Silvan Dillier was missing from the outfit that took the gold in Richmond, Virginia last September.
https://twitter.com/BMCProTeam/status/779320326618480640
Meanwhile, IAM Cycling surprised many when it eclipsed Lotto-Soudal’s time with 23:37. The squad had two riders within 22-seconds of Sagan on GC. Within minutes, the Richmond silver-medalists Etixx-QuickStep, powered by Tony Martin and Niki Terpstra, posted 23:17.

As expected, BMC crashed through, setting the bar at 21:11. Movistar, Richmond bronze-earners albeit with a bit of a different crew, posted the third fastest time of 23:36, but were shuffled down to fourth when LottoNL-Jumbo marked 23:34.

Tinkoff was the last team to finish. Could it keep Sagan in the white and red leader’s jersey? The squad had to roll the last 3-km with five riders. A time of 23:45 meant that Sagan dropped to fourth, 27-seconds in arrears of Dennis. Dennis’s American teammate Taylor Phinney is now second on GC and Tony Martin, off to Katusha next season, third.

Saturday’s course is a tough mini-Amstel Gold with an uphill finish. Sunday is the finale on the Muur in Geraardsbergen.

2016 Eneco Tour Stage 5
1) BMC 23:11
2) Etixx-QuickStep +0:06
3) LottoNL-Jumbo +0:23

2016 Eneco Tour GC
1) Rohan Dennis (Australia/BMC) 13:40:47
2) Taylor Phinney (USA/BMC) +0:16
3) Tony Martin (Germany/Etixx-QuickStep) +0:24