Oscar Gatto (Tinkoff) won the third and difficult stage in the Ruta del Sol today in Spain. Wilco Kelderman tried to interfere in the final sprint, but was trapped and could not play a significant role. Sky’s Ben Swift took over the race lead. 

The stage covered several climbs. Bert-Jan Lindeman rode in the front group all day, but was caught before the finale climb. Movistar’s pace was high and many riders couldn’t follow.

Sport Director Addy Engels said, "It was certainly not a pointless escape given Movistar thought it was a strong and dangerous one and closed the gap just before the final climb. Wilco Kelderman and Steven Kruijswijk had no problems.”

For Paul Martens and Enrico Battaglin the pace was just too high so team LottoNL-Jumbo could not count on its sprint. In the last kilometre, Steven Kruijswijk guided Wilco Kelderman forward to mix in the final sprint.

"Steven brought me forward but that was just a little too early," said Kelderman. "The road ran slightly down so I was caught up left and right."

On Saturday, they must race an individual time trial. Kruijswijk, Kelderman and Keizer will give it their all.

"I don’t want to say what’s possible now," continued Engels. "They just have to go full speed. Then we see again how their conditions is.”