Kruijswijk’s performance was overshadowed by a big crash of teammate and Belgian time trial champion Wout van Aert. Van Aert was riding an excellent time trial and seemed on his way to a fast time, but in the final kilometres he crashed hard in a corner after having hit a barrier. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, as he was suffering from a deep flesh wound on his right upper leg.

“After Wout’s crash I had to quickly change my focus. It is unfortunate that it happened. You don’t want it to happen to anyone”, Kruijswijk said. “I think I did a great time trial myself. The course was ideal for me and the feeling was pretty good. I knew that the first part suited me best with all those short, tough climbs. The last part was a lot less steep. It went very well until the second intermediate point. I expected to give in some time at the end. The time differences are still very small and I expect that the remainder of the Tour will be exciting. For now, I am third overall and doing well.”