Steven Kruijswijk did a great job in today’s mountain stage in the Vuelta a España. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s 30-year-old rider could keep up with the favourites for a long time and ultimately finished eleventh, just before GC-leader Froome. Kruijswijk is also eleventh in the general classification, only a few seconds behind the top ten.

Kruijswijk was relieved with his eleventh place. “Better late than never”, he stated afterwards. “I try my best every day in this Vuelta. It gives me a good feeling that I’m improving and that I can compete again with the top of the general classification. It was a good day.”

The stage demanded a lot of the riders. “We had to ride attentively from the start because of the wind. Furthermore, the peloton split in a wet descent. Of course you also want to be in front at the start of the final climb. Fortunately, I was always in the right place at the right time.”

Kruijswijk thanks his team mates for that. “It is great that they believe in me unconditionally. I appreciate that very much and I’m glad that I’m improving by the day. It was tough on the final climb’s steep parts, but I gave everything until the line. I’m happy that my legs were good.”