Marijn van den Berg thrives in "tough day" as he sprints to win after echelons

The opening stage of La Route d'Occitanie saw strong wind and among the sprinters that survived the difficult conditions was Marijn van den Berg, who took the opportunity to snatch his second win of the season.

“It was a tough day. It was especially very hot and there was a lot of hard riding," the Dutchman said in a post-race interview. "Overall a good day. I hope to be able to participate tomorrow as well. I would like to survive the climbs and then go for the sprint. We also have some men here for the standings, so it's also about how we can help them. So we will see tomorrow.”

The EF Education-EasyPost rider was part of a group of 23 riders that reached the finish ahead of the rest of the field, he still had some of his main rivals there but managed to outsprint Sandy Dujardin and Paul Penhoët, whilst Elia Viviani ended up relegated. This was the best opportunities for the sprinters to succeed, he has won under a tough day as was the case as well as when he won at the Trofeo Ses Salines earlier in the year.

However his and the team's focus remain on the overall classification, they now look to take time back for Simon Carr after he lost time on the opening day. “Simon is our leader this week. We're going to try to help him as best we can. It's nice that he comes from this region. That is why he is so motivated to do well here.”