Ster ZLM Toer: Maes Works off the Front

Ster ZLM Toer: Maes Works off the Front

Nikolas Maes did his best to stay away during the hilly 167km Stage 2 of Ster ZLM Toer GP Jan van Heeswijk. However, he was eventually reeled in, and the elite sprinters battled it out at the finish.

Bart van Haaren (KOGA Cycling Team), Jim van den Berg (KOGA Cycling Team), Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda),and Maes escaped and gained as much as a 4'15" on the peloton. However, the peloton continued to chase hard and cut the gap to 2'50". After the Cauberg, Maes was reeled in, leaving five up the road. The break was eventually caught, one by one, until 4km remained. A crash with 3.2km to go affected the sprint finish, splitting the field. Only about 30 to 35 riders escaped the carnage. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) outsprinted Mark Cavendish (Sky ProCycling) in the bunch sprint, with Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) just behind.