Wilco Kelderman placed seventh in the final stage of the Ruta del Sol and sealed fourth overall in the general classification. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the day’s mountain stage and race overall.

The last stage had a hard profile. The 171-kilometre stage from San Roque to Puerto Peñas Blancas served up five climbs for the peloton. After a few skirmishes on the road, only the strongest remained in the race and Kelderman was in the elite breakaway.

"I think it was a fair fight," said Sport Director Addy Engels after the race. "This is the level of Wilco Kelderman now. When Valverde attacked, nobody really had an answer. But if you can be that strong in your first race of the year, in a field like this, then you are doing well with a fourth spot in the GC. 

“The boys protected Wilco until the foot of the last climb. Kruijswijk, Tjallingii, Battaglin and Lindeman were there. It was a hard race today with a fast pace. If you are able to do this then you know that our men came out of the winter well. So I'm very happy where we are now."

Over the winter, the team invested much time and effort in lead-out trains. The first results are now visible.

"Sometimes I refer to the agreements that we made during our training camp with the Dutch Royal Army," he continued. "Our base is good. The thing now is to develop our condition further because our competitors are not standing still."

Wilco Kelderman was very satisfied with his performance in his first race of the year. During the time trial, he was narrowly beaten by Tejay Van Garderen. Today, although he lost some places in the overall standings, he consolidated his position in the top 10 of the rankings.

"I'm happy with my performance here in the Ruta," Kelderman said after the stage. "Today there were more than 4000 meters of climbing, and if you perform like this in your first race of the year, you know you came out of winter well. I built my condition step by step. First given much attention to my back where I had some trouble with last year and then I trained hard. It roles good and it gives me confidence."

Kelderman’s next race is France’s Paris-Nice stage race, March 6 to 13.

"I am looking forward to Paris-Nice. I still need to work on some finishing touches in my workouts. I noticed here that some others are just that a little better and I feel that I can still improve. I will be ready for Paris-Nice.”