Jakob Söderqvist extended his lead in the overall standings of the Eneco Tour on Stage 2, claiming victory in the individual time trial in Tilburg after also winning the prologue already.
Söderqvist completed the 13.6-kilometre course in 15:04 minutes, finishing eleven seconds ahead of runner-up Finn Fisher-Black of New Zealand and British rider Ethan Hayter.
After three of the six race days at the Dutch stage race, the 23-year-old now leads the overall standings by 14 seconds over Hayter and 15 seconds over Fisher-Black.
Söderqvist was on course for victory from the very start of the time trial in Tilburg. Not even a moment of concern in a right-hand bend, when his rear wheel slipped, could change that.
“I like to keep the ones behind me in the car a bit on their toes,” Söderqvist smirked in the winner’s interview. “No, for sure that was one of the closer calls from the last years.”
Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images
Overall, Söderqvist, who reached an average speed of more than 54 kilometres per hour, once again proved just how strong he is on the time trial bike, but also how fast he can take corners. “Just how I like it,” he said.
While Söderqvist took the win, Kristian Egholm (+ 0:32) also secured a strong tenth place, while Sebastian Grindley (+ 0:40) finished 13th. Edward Theuns (+ 0:51) came 24th, and Benedikt Benz (+ 1:27) raced to 62nd place in the fast race against the clock.
Over the next three days, the terrain in the Netherlands will become hillier. Stage 3 on Friday will cover four and a half laps of a circuit through the Limburg region, from Sittard to Watersley, featuring numerous short climbs.
Stage 4 on Saturday finishes on VAM-Berg near Hoogeveen, known for hosting the finish of the 2023 European Championships. Christophe Laporte won there on that occasion and currently trails Söderqvist by 29 seconds in the overall standings.
“The pressure will be on now – and we know how good riders like Christophe Laporte are on VAM-Berg. Even tomorrow will be already a lot of pressure from the other teams, but we are here to fight,” Söderqvist said.
The final stage on Sunday will cover 149 kilometres around Arnhem and could once again favour the sprinters.
In Jakob’s words:
It was a fast one! I think I experienced it faster, than I expected beforehand. I didn't feel too much headwind, even though we talked a lot about it before. So I think it was just a good day. I can not say too much more than that. There were some nice corners, that kept you a bit on your toes – just how I like it. So that was a bigger pleasure than normally. Everything so far went as good as we could expect. I was strong in this race last year also, so we knew it suits me really well. But I'm happy, that the shape is still with me at this time of the year.
