Sittard and the Eneco Tour keep close ties. Last year Johan Le Bon bested Dylan van Baarle in a sprint-à-deux, while two years ago it was Guillaume Van Keirsbulck who soloed to victory in the closing stage. In 2013 Sylvain Chavanel powered to the win in an individual time trial.
The route of today’s TTT overlaps partially with the 2013 ITT. After leaving Sittard the riders head for Germany and with 6 kilometres done a 1 kilometres climb at 3.6% awaits the teams at the Bergstrasse in Hillensberg. Shortly after the riders are on Dutch soil again. They pass through villages such as Doenraade, Klein Doenraade, Oirsbeek, Schinnen and Puth to arrive at the Windraak, a 400 metres hill with an average gradient of 4.5%. At the top it’s 7 kilometres left.
The last Eneco Tour with a TTT in it was in 2012. Start and finish were in Sittard, too, yet the 2016 route is not a replica. Back then Orica-GreenEdge (now Orica-BikeExchange) bested Omega Pharma-QuickStep (now Etixx-QuickStep) by 1 second.
Results/report TTT, 2016 Eneco Tour
Eneco Tour 2016 stage 5: Route maps and more
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