Wilco Kelderman showed solid condition in his first race of the year but failed to follow the best riders in today's hilly stage of the Volta ao Algarve. The young Dutchman praised the work of his teammates and hopes to move up in the GC in tomorrow's time trial.
 

Wilco Kelderman was just not good enough to fight for the win in today’s second stage of the Volta ao Algarve, but the Belkin Pro Cycling Team rider looked back on the day and his 15th place with a smile. 

“I’ve had a good winter, although last week I suffered from a cold”, said Kelderman. “I’m pleased with today’s result, but even more with the team work. Our Sports Directors Erik Dekker and Nico Verhoeven had explored the course, which came in handy as the roads were twisty and went up and down in the final thirty kilometres. They were in a bad condition as well.” 

After the riders watched the video, they knew they had to take initiative in the penultimate descent. 

“And as a team we did that very well,” said Kelderman. “We were a true unit. We took the lead there because we knew that the descent was steep and technical. It was just too bad that I could not follow the best riders on the final climb or catch them in the descent to the finish line.” 

Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Michal Kwiatkowski claimed the stage win in Monchique after 200 kilometres. Kelderman lost 28 seconds plus ten bonus seconds on the rider from Poland. In tomorrow’s 13.6-kilometre time trial, he hopes to narrow the gap. 

“I hope to get better by the day here in Portugal. Tomorrow, I hope to be good and take another step towards the top ten.” 

 

Verhoeven remains confident in Kelderman.

“We want to ride well in the WorldTour races this year and so we deliberately decided to start our season a bit later. We know that in comparison to other riders and teams, we can be a bit behind. The next two stages will determine the overall. We will try to take our opportunities. The time trial course suits Wilco, and I think Rick Flens could also do well.” 

You can read our preview of the race here.