Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) delivered his best result of the season when he took second place behind Lionel Taminiaux (Alpecin-Deceuninck) on stage 5 of the 2022 Tour de Langkawi, but there were no wholehearted celebrations.
Second is good, but it can also be difficult.
"it was just full gas to the finish line and I felt that I had good legs," Van den Berg said to Cyclingnews in Kulim. "So I thought I'd give it a go a little bit earlier because in the sprint normally I'm not the fastest guy."
The Dutch rider leapt from the lead group at around 3km to go, moving decisively and initially going solo.
“I got a nice gap. Only Lionel came to me and I knew he was quick, I know the guy, but I thought maybe with a long sprint – I felt pretty strong – but nah, I couldn't win today,” Van den Berg told Cyclingnews. “I'm pretty bummed about that. I don't get many, opportunities like this, but we've got a few stages left.
"Let's hope we can take a win with the team, two times second ... it’s nothing.”
Van den Berg's runner-up position follows a second by teammate Hugh Carthy on stage 3 of the eight-day Malaysian tour, a placing which also puts him second overall. Clearly Van den Berg and the team want more.
Still, it is Van den Berg's first time on the podium this year, as the 25-year-old who is usually working for his teammates tried to make the most of his position in an unusual break of 11. It was dominated by the six WorldTour teams at the race, whereas before stage 5 they had all been sitting back and letting a break of the smaller teams form – and be caught.
However, the breaks of the smaller teams were held in check on Saturday until after a category 2 climb at more than 60km into the race.
"We talked with the DS' and they thought with the climb it was an opportunity for an early break to go as it's harder to control and stronger guys are normally in the break then," said Van den Berg. "So we tried, only it took a fairly long time."
The break went after, not on, the climb but the impact of it was still being felt so it was a strong group of riders up the front that were in a position to react and once they were away the group worked well together to keep the peloton at a distance.
While he launched the late attack with 3km to go and improved his odds by coming to the line with just Taminiaux, he wasn't the fastest this time either and had to settle for second despite his well-timed move.
"It's better than nothing," said Van den Berg. "But I think if you come second, you want to win."
