Lobato fifth again in Tour de l'Ain
The second stage of the Tour de l'Ain has ended in a mass sprint, just like yesterday. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Juan José Lobato became fifth. Nacer Bouhanni not only won the stage but also took over the leader's jersey from Lobato as well as the lead in the points classification.
A 145-kilometre stage brought the riders from Ambérieu-en-Bugey to Saint-Vulbas and was characterized by a breakaway of three riders. In the bunch it was Alexey Vermeulen who controlled the race all day long. Sports Director Frans Maassen: "Vermeulen controlled the entire course. In the end Steven Kruijswijk, Stef Clement and Amund Grøndahl-Jansen took over, but they aren't real sprinters. Lobato was too far behind to play a significant role in the sprint during the last two hundred metres. He lost the leader's jersey, but in the mountains we’ll go hunt with Kruijswijk and Clement to reconquer the yellow."
Lobato said that the word disappointed does not match today’s feel: "We did a fair job as a team and aimed for a second stage victory. I cannot say I'm disappointed. We did what we could. Tomorrow is another day and we’ll help Kruijswijk as good as possible", the Spaniard said.