Great Britain’s under-23 endurance men battled challenging conditions and injury to finish fifth on stage two of the UCI Under 23 Nations’ Cup ZLM Roompot Tour on Friday.

Held just a few hours after a gruelling 121-kilometre road stage, stage two was a 24.8-kilometre team time trial in the exposed coastal setting of Kamperland in the Zeeland province of the Netherlands.

Many teams struggled to hold their squads together as high winds added an extra layer of difficulty to the team event. Of the six-man Great Britain squad, Owain Doull, Jon Dibben and Germain Burton held firm to record a time of 31:27.71, an average speed of over 47 kilometres per hour, slotting them into fifth position.

Oliver Wood and Chris Latham were the first to succumb and Mark Stewart, suffering from injuries sustained at La Cote Picarde earlier in the week, hung in bravely but finally had to drop away and allow Doull, Dibben and Burton to bring it home.

Great Britain Cycling Team under-23 road manager Keith Lambert said, "Savage wind caused chaos today. We lost (Chris) Latham and then (Oliver) Wood early.

"(Mark) Stewart did well to stay in a bit longer, despite his injuries."

Denmark took top honours in a time 30:10.71, ensuring that stage one winner Soren Kragh Andersen finished the day at the top of the general classification. The result also propelled the Danes to the head of the team classification with just the 177.2-kilometre stage starting and finishing in Goes to complete.

Following his third place in stage one, Owain Doull is Great Britain’s highest placed rider on general classification in ninth, one minute and 32 seconds down on Andersen.

Results

Stage two result
General classification after stage two
Team classification after stage two