Team Visma | Lease a Bike started the day with a clear strategy for what proved to be another tough mountain stage in this year’s Giro. Wilco Kelderman, Steven Kruijswijk, Bart Lemmen, and Dylan van Baarle all joined a large breakaway group of over thirty riders.

Van Baarle took on a major workload at the front, helping to increase the breakaway’s lead over the peloton. This allowed Kelderman, Kruijswijk, and Lemmen to save energy for the finale and support their leader Yates when it mattered most.

On the Mortirolo—the key climb of the day—Yates briefly had to let go when Carapaz attacked just before the summit, but the 32-year-old Brit quickly regrouped. On the descent, he benefited from the efforts of teammates Kruijswijk and Lemmen, who helped bridge the gap back to the Carapaz group. In the end, Yates couldn’t respond to a decisive attack from Del Toro and Carapaz on the final climb. He crossed the line in fourth place, losing a few seconds but ultimately minimizing the damage.

“My own feeling wasn’t great today”, said Kelderman. “I tried to be there for Simon—that was the whole point of getting into the breakaway. We ended up getting further than expected. The GC guys came flying past. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do much more today, but the plan was there. We prepared well as a team, and I think Simon had another strong day, even if he did lose a few seconds at the end.”

Sports director Marc Reef looked back on the seventeenth stage: “The goal was to defend Simon’s GC position. If an opportunity came up, we were also ready to try and gain some time on the competition. As a team, we had things well organized—we had four guys in the early break. Carapaz launched his move on the Mortirolo. Simon let him go initially but was able to respond shortly after. In the valley, Bart and Steven were there to support Simon, which helped close the gap to Carapaz.”

“Simon just couldn’t quite follow the punchy attack from Carapaz and Del Toro on the final climb”, Reef continued. “He did manage to ride away from the group of chasers, though. It wasn’t exactly a finale that suited him, so we’re satisfied to have kept the losses small. As a team, we made very few mistakes today. There’s still plenty to come on Friday and Saturday in terms of the GC. Hopefully, we’ll be able to show our strength again then.”