Steven Kruijswijk (37th) couldn’t keep up with the favourites in the final of the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s 30-year-old rider is still suffering from a cold.

Early in the difficult race of 175,7 kilometres, there was a big breakaway. “We focussed on Steven Kruijswijk”, sports director Grischa Niermann said afterwards. “His team mates did a great job. Steven was well positioned at the start of the final climb.”

After that, Kruijswijk couldn’t keep up with the other favourites. “He isn’t completely fit at the moment and that was very inconvenient during this tough stage. Furthermore, a steep final climb as we saw today suits him less than a longer and less steep climb. But we have confidence in him. We expect that he will become better by the day.”