Tim Elverson reckons BIKE Channel Canyon’s Dutch double-header will stand them in good stead after shrugging off a painful finale.
Crashes in the latter stages of the Dorpenomloop Rucphen scuppered Chris Opie’s chances of adding to his seventh place in Saturday’s Ronde van Drenthe.
While the Cornishman did not hit the deck, both James Lowsley-Williams and Jack Pullar went down hard as the race headed towards a bunch sprint.
The latter of those incidents allowed 12 riders up front enough rope to stay clear to the finish, with Metec’s Maarten van Trijp attacking 5km from the line to snatch glory.
Opie ended up 15th after the much-reduced peloton sprinted for minor placings in the UCI 1.2 contest in Holland.
Elverson was left a little frustrated as the team failed to build on their superb result in Drenthe but reckons the weekend will stand his troops in good stead for the challenges ahead. The sports director said:
“Positioning is what it is all about in those races. Some of our positioning was really, really good and some of it was not.
“We got a little unlucky in the fact the crashes not only caused splits but we had riders involved, too. But it is just how it is.
“Saturday should have been much more of a crash-fest but we actually survived pretty well, whereas here we’ve had our fair share of the bumps.
“Drenthe was very good. We would have liked to have done a little better today but the weekend has been fantastic for the riders from a development point of view.
“We have had two big days out, racing at proper speed and picking up a good number of UCI points, so overall I am very happy.
“Weirdly, the lads probably gelled better as a team and worked more as a unit today, which is obviously something I was looking to get out of the weekend.
“There are lots of positives. It is a shame about the crashes but I think everyone enjoyed it and the team spirit is really good.
“They will all be considerably better on Monday for doing this weekend, even if Mark (Haylett), our mechanic, has gained quite a lot of work!”
Rory Townsend suffered a crash early on but rejoined the peloton before the likes of Rob Partridge, Harry Tanfield and George Atkins were cut adrift by later spills.
Dexter Gardias worked tirelessly in a bid to close down the 12 escapees for Opie but in the end found little support in the chase group.
Lowsley-Williams suffered a deep cut to his finger, while Pullar has plenty of road rash but otherwise the pair are relatively unscathed following their tumbles.
Elsewhere, a puncture saw Max Stedman’s hopes of landing a blow in the Betty Pharoah Road Race in Wales extinguished.
