With Bauke Mollema's sixth place and Laurens ten Dam's 13th spot, the Belkin Pro Cycling Team was able to conclude the Tour de France 2013 with its heads up on Sunday. Thanks to good teamwork, the Dutch leaders shone in the world's biggest bike race. Team Belkin team arrived in Paris with all nine men, which reflects on the hard work everyone put in.

Laurens ten Dam admitted that he had hoped for more seeing that he was 5th overall midway through the race. In that respect, he said, finishing 13th overall was rather disappointing. However, he felt certain that he would appreciate his achievement in due time. Next on the agenda for the Dutch rider is the Vuelta a España which begins on August 24.

"To think that at one point during this Tour I was fifth overall. To end it in 13th is a bit of a downer, to be honest,” ten Dam said. “If you had given me the chance beforehand, I would've signed up for 13th. It's difficult to appreciate the result now, though; that'll have to come later. In my last two Grand Tours, I finished eighth and 13th. I'm starting to be a familiar face in the GC. Hopefully, that's the same case in the Vuelta a España."

Bauke Mollema found more reason to be satisfied with his 6th place overall. For a long time he occupied the runner-up spot but had to relinquish his place on the podium in the final and decisive week of the Tour. Illness played a part in that but Mollema was honest enough to acknowledge that he probably wouldn’t have been able to finish inside the top five even if he hadn’t been struck by disease.

"I'm really happy with this sixth place. The difference between sixth and fifth is quite large so even if I hadn't become sick, I think I wouldn't have been able to make it. This was the maximum result possible and I'm very happy with it. It was a nice Tour. The last days were obviously heavy, but we all knew it would be that way."