It took a long time before a leading group got established in the turbulent stage to Manresa. In the descent of the Coll de Comiols the race exploded and eventually forty riders managed to break clear. There were numerous attacks but after everything came back together on the Port de Montserrat, Kruijswijk pulled through several times. The Dutchman was unable to get away and had to settle for a top ten place.

“In such a large group it is not easy to race and you often have to gamble as well”, Kruijswijk said. “We knew it was a day for the breakaway, so we wanted to make sure we had riders along. The team has done a good job and made sure that I was able to ride the final. I tried to attack a few times. For me it was a different way of racing, but unfortunately I am not in top form this week.”

“Today it seemed as if everyone wanted to join the breakaway”, sports director Grischa Niermann explained. “There were a lot of attacks. In the end we had two guys in the front with Steven and Chris. That was a good scenario for us. Chris did a good job for Steven who put up a good fight on the final climb and showed resilience.”