After a thick mist had swiftly rolled in and wiped away the blue skies over Monte Oiz, Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) was left to contemplate how quickly things can change at the Vuelta a España. A stunning time trial performance on Tuesday had catapulted him onto the provisional podium and to the forefront of everyone´s minds. The Dutchman was back in the mix, it was thought, and even overall leader Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) was talking of him as a serious threat for the final mountain stages. Twenty-four hours on, and by the top of Monte Oiz, Kruijswijk had slipped back down to fifth overall, his time trial gains wiped out in the space of three tortuously steep kilometres.ADVERTISEMENT `Every day is different. One day you win time, the other day you lose time. Today I lost it,` Kruijswijk told reporters beyond the finish line. The losses totalled 1:04 to the top GC finishers, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), the 23-year-old Spaniard taking his place on the provisional podium. Though he finished alongside a similarly ailing Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Kruijswijk lost 56 seconds to Yates and 54 to Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana). And it was Lopez who applied the pressure that would see him move back above Kruijswijk.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
|
