Due to the abandon of Kruijswijk, Team Jumbo-Visma loses an important companion for Primoz Roglic in the mountains.

Kruijswijk has not felt his knee improve in recent days. “The decision to abandon is the only right one. There was no improvement. Because of the pain I am not comfortable on my bike and you have to be realistic. If the pain persists, I am of no value to the team. Hopefully they can live up to what we came for.

"Losing Steven is a big loss for the team," said team leader Addy Engels. "He was one of our leaders. After the crash in the team time trial his knee got worse and worse. That could not be sustained. We are losing a very important pawn."

Engels continues: “It is difficult to estimate what tomorrow will bring. Last Sunday things looked good on the climb. The climb in stage five is of a different order than that of last Sunday. We will see, but I am confident."