An event as complex as the Giro d’Italia can never be reduced to simple arithmetic, but Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) must still have felt a degree of frustration when he did the math on reaching Milan at the end of last year’s race.
Despite losing 8:27 on the rolling road to La Spezia on stage 4, Kruijswijk recovered so well in the final week that he finished the race in eighth place on general classification, 10:53 behind the pink jersey of Alberto Contador, but less than eight minutes off a place on the final podium.
There is always a risk of adding two and two to make a five in such cases, but Kruijswijk set out from his native Netherlands for this year’s Giro determined not to bleed seconds – far less minutes – needlessly in the opening two weeks of racing.
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Kruijswijk was vigilant on Tuesday as the race split up on the Calabrian coast on the Giro’s first stage in Italy on Tuesday, staying positioned towards the front of the group of favourites on the final climb of the Fortino, and even slipping off the front in the company of fellow countryman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) in the run-in, eventually placing third on the stage.
“I was looking forward to the stage: it was a little test for me, to see where my place is in this moment. I just tried to be in front on the climb and I was really good. There were no troubles on the climb or in the final,” Kruijswijk told Cyclingnews afterwards.
Though the Dutch tandem was unable to peg back stage winner Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), the time bonus for third place in Praia a Mare means that Kruijswijk moves up to fourth overall, 24 seconds down on the restored race leader Dumoulin.
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