"We had scouted the final well and knew a few moments where it was good to go" - Lidl-Trek DS confirms Jasper Stuyven's attack was well planned

Big disappointment at Lidl-Trek after the gravel stage in the Tour de France. Jasper Stuyven seemed to be on his way to victory, but was caught in the final kilometer by his former breakaway companions.

"With that group with Turgis in it, we knew he wasn’t going to win in a sprint. Moreover, there was still a threat from behind with that group with Van der Poel and Girmay. We had scouted the final well and knew a few moments where it was good to go. Jasper picked a really good moment," sports director Steven de Jongh explained to WielerFlits why Stuyven - normally a formidable sprinter - rode away from the leading group with around eleven kilometers to go.

However it was not meant to be and ten kilometers later he was caught again. A lot of credit for that goes to Astana's Alexey Lutsenko who probably sacrificed his own chances to pull Stuyven back to the group in the final kilometer. "Unfortunately it just didn’t work out. This sucks. He can also look back on this stage with his head held high. The fact that Lutsenko then does a suicide pull to get him back, I didn't have in my script either."

Stuyven had an atypical preparation for the Tour de France, because the Belgian was initially not going to start. Yet he is clearly at his best. "After his operation he already returned very strongly in the Giro. After that he rested and prepared for the Tour of Belgium, where he was already good. After that he also rode a good Belgian Championships. When we were faced with injuries and illnesses, he already indicated that he was ready for it. It is always a dream to take a rider like that with us."

Turns out De Jongh is not a large fan of a gravel stage at the Tour either: "It has been a very nice race, but the gravel was quite loose today. That does pose some risks. Ciccone is still quite close and can still ride for the GC, so you have enough to lose. And you don't want to lose other riders either. A crash is always shitty," said the Dutchman, who saw leader Mads Pedersen give up a few days ago due to the consequences of an earlier crash.