After showing themselves in the two opening stages of the 2018 Tour de Normandie, our riders were ready to keep the positive vibe going in today’s stage three. The race was off to a really fast start as the bunch set an average of almost 48 km/h during the first hour of racing. There was some attackers who tried to distance the peloton, but the group stayed together until the first intermediate sprint, that was won by our Cees Bol taking three bonus seconds with him. 

The high pace kept by the bunch throughout the day did not allow any big attacks to stay upfront but with 30 kms to go it was our Julius van den Berg who jumped off the peloton and went solo. The U23 Dutch National Champion, who was already on the attack in the final part of yesterday’s stage, was allowed up to one minute before being caught in the descent of the last climb with 10 km to go. 

Once the 22-year Dutchman was brought back to the main group, our riders worked as a unit in order to keep Cees Bol’s GC ambitions safe in the last part of the day. The Dutch rider rolled in 22nd and keeps after three stages he stays in second overall 11 seconds away from the leader’s yellow jersey. 

Julius van den Berg, showed himself again today: 
“I am feeling great and my form is improving, I still have a long way to come but I am happy with how things are going right now. I did not plan either yesterday’s or today’s attack but it was the best move for the team, we wanted to make the race as hard as possible and that is what what we tried. We are in a great position with Cees (Bol) right now, and other guys like Jan (Maas) and Peter (Lenderink) are going strong as well so we can finish the week in a great way. Personally, I would like to go for the stage win but we will see how the race turns out”.