Steven Kruijswijk has finished the Tour de Suisse in eighth place. The 31-year-old captain of Team LottoNL-Jumbo retained that position in the final time trial in Bellinzona.

“I expected more from my time trial”, Kruijswijk said. “I didn’t really get the good feeling you need in a time trial. In the end, I’m happy with the performance this week. The result is certainly not bad and it indicates that we’re going in the right direction regarding the Tour.”

Sports director Addy Engels concurred with Kruijswijk. “Steven didn’t have a super feeling today. His time trial was reasonable, certainly not good. He finished as eighth in the standings and that’s fine. Steven was in a good condition all week and that gives confidence towards the Tour. Looking back on this week’s racing, I have seen a very strong team. We finished in the top ten a number of times, but what I remember the most is how the team performed in the stage to Arosa. Koen and Enrico were in the early breakaway and Steven was well supported by the other boys and he was dropped off perfectly for the ascent of the final climb. That was really strong and beautiful to see.”