Robert Gesink maintained his sixth position in the general classification of the Tour de France. After Steven Kruijswijk supported him perfectly, he was able to finish eighth in the third stage through the Alps. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) won the stage and stopped Gesink from moving up to the fifth place.

“It went quite well,” Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s front man said after the finish on La Toussuire. “It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to win the sprint for the fourth place, because I think that I deserved that actually.

"It was a big fight from the beginning of the stage. We were there every time. The team led the chase of the breakaway for a while to ensure that the gap stayed small and Steven did a great job too.

"The pace was high already in the beginning of the day. I wasted a lot of energy, early in the race. I had to go through my limits. Because Steven was part of the break, he was able to ride at his own pace. When he returned to our group, he helped me a lot. He did a superb job for me.”

Gesink noticed that Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was distanced early in the stage and knew he was going to overtake him in the overall, but stage winner Nibali passed him with his solo victory. That means that he’s still sixth with two more stages to race.

“We already were expecting that Nibali was going to pass me. He is last year’s winner so it’s no shame that he’s passing me. Besides that, I’m able to hold on. I think that I’m doing well.”
 

“It was a tough day,” Kruijswijk added. “It was nice to compete in the front. I escaped to aim for the stage victory, but the breakaway I was part of was tricky for our team so they started to lead the chase. That’s why I slowed down on the second climb to support Robert. It wasn’t hard for me to make that effort in front of his group afterwards. I know that Robert likes to climb on a high pace. I tried to do that for him.”

Sports Director Nico Verhoeven was glad with the team’s effort, as well.

“We took the matters in our own hands,” he said. “A group of 15 riders stayed in front. Two of them were Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders. That’s good and I’m very satisfied with that. Tomorrow is the final of the Tour de France in a very short, fast and tough stage to the Alpe d’Huez. That’s a classic one in the Netherlands and it’s going to be very beautiful for us to ride up there.”