In the Giro d’Italia’s first stage in Italy after its Dutch start, Steven Kruijswijk went on the attack with Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and gained five seconds. Team LottoNL-Jumbo GC leader jumped to fourth place with a one-second gain and a four-second time bonus.

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) won the stage and Dumoulin took second, and re-gained the pink jersey.

Kruijswijk showed fight already in the first week. Halfway through the fourth stage, on the Bonifati climb, team LottoNL-Jumbo lined it out for him. “You’re able to save a lot of energy on the first climb of the day, but you have to be in front to accomplish that,” he said. “Last year, I lost a lot of time in a moment like this. If my team-mates support me as they did today, I’m able to start the final part of the race fresh to compete for a stage victory. I’m happy to reward the team a little bit today so they will keep faith in me.”

Attentive
“Steven was among the first riders all day,” Sports Director Addy Engels added. “The roads on the climbs were narrow and steep, so you have to be attentive. That’s where Steven improved. He showed that in the Netherlands. He is sharp.”

He proved so when Dumoulin attacked in the final kilometre. “I saw a chance to go along with Tom,” Kruijswijk continued. “I was able to do one effort and finished third. That is a good result, but I wasn’t thinking about that actually. The most important thing is that today’s stage gave me a positive feeling.”

South of Italy

On Wednesday, the sprinters including Moreno Hofland will probably have another chance in Benevento. “It’s a special finish, typical for the south of Italy,” Engels said. “It’s not for the pure sprinters, but something for men with a lot of power. Moreno proved to be strong and I think that he has a big chance.”