Steven Kruijswijk has shown himself in the final of the longest stage of the Tour of Catalunya. The thirty-year-old Dutchman attacked in the last ten kilometres, but wasn’t able to keep his pace. Subsequently, the group with the favourites started to race for the win. Ultimately, George Bennett was the first rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo to cross the finish line. The New Zealander gained a place in the rankings and is now seventh.

“It was a good day today, though not much happened”, Kruijswijk looked back on the long but fast stage. “The pace of the peloton was high, but with a large group ahead we knew that they were going for the win. With the classification in mind, I tried to attack in the end. I felt good at that moment, but it wasn’t possible to keep up the pace due to today’s strong winds.”

Kruijswijk indicated that he had put his mind to the shortened stage of last Wednesday. “I wanted to surprise that day. Too bad it wasn’t possible, because it was too cold. But it’s not over yet. The stage to Barcelona on Sunday is also difficult. Maybe I can force something.”