Cyclist Nils Eekhoff from Rijsenhout will start his second Tour de France tomorrow. With his Team DSM, the goal is to go for stage victories. “We have a diverse team at the start that can participate well in all areas,” says Eekhoff.
cobblestone stage
In stage five of the Tour de France (Lille – Arensberg) a cobblestone stage is scheduled in Northern France. In 2017, Eekhoff won Paris-Roubaix in the U23 class and so he circled this stage with red. “In the spring I had to miss Paris-Roubaix so I see this stage a bit as a second chance. I hope to be able to race from the front.”
bad spring
The cyclist from Rijsenhout had a bad spring. Due to a false positive corona test, he did not appear at the start at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and he crashed heavily in Paris-Nice. There he suffered a concussion and his spring came to an end.
The 24-year-old North Hollander made his comeback in May during the Tour of Dunkirk. In June he rode the ZLM Tour. There he crashed in the fourth stage and got off as a precaution. He then contracted corona and did not start in the Tour of Belgium. “It is not the ideal preparation. I had hoped not to have that setback and to be in even better shape. I have not been too bothered by the corona infection. We are on schedule to get off to a good start,” said Eekhoff.