Wilco Kelderman looked back on Paris-Nice with mixed feelings after the final stage today. The Dutchman of the Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM thought his 13th place in the overall didn't reflect how good he really was the past week. He ended the race with an excellent fifth place in the final stage, which began and finished in Nice. 

"I'm standing here with mixed feelings," said Kelderman, who saw his GC-ambitions crushed by a mechanical earlier in the week. "That was a real downer because, otherwise, I could have been in the top five. My legs were superb." 

Kelderman looks forward to the near future. "I made some progress this week," he said. "I have plenty of races to come. As a team we had a good week. Despite my bad luck, our morale remained high and we continued to fight. That deserves a compliment." 

 'A nice fifth place'

Sports Director Merijn Zeeman hoped for another stage win today after Moreno Hofland's victory in stage two, but didn't see the team's efforts rewarded. 

"We wanted another win and we secretly hoped to put Wilco in the top ten," said Zeeman. "As planned, Moreno was in the break of the day and when everything came together, Wilco attacked on the penultimate climb, which was planned as well. Unfortunately, he didn't get enough space ahead of his rivals. In the sprint, he gave everything he had and grabbed a nice fifth place." 

 

Concentrated and dominant

Zeeman, who after the final stage immediately traveled to Italy to explore the Milano-Sanremo course with Jonathan Hivert and Lars Petter Nordhaug, looked back proudly on the past week. 

"We raced as we wanted. We were super concentrated and dominant. Our talents are developing as hoped. Unfortunately, we did not achieve our goal. Because of a mechanical we ended up just outside the top ten, but that's sport, 'if' doesn't count."