Lotto Soudal had a mixed day in the Vuelta a Espana. On one hand, Thomas De Gendt abandoned but on the other GC rider Bart De Clercq moved into 16th in the overall standings.

“Thomas De Gendt had a difficult day yesterday, just like the days before," sports director Mario Aerts said. "You always hope it will get better but that didn’t happen. He appears to be tired, a combination of the heat, the Tour and the mental aspect after the crash of Kris Boeckmans I guess.

"We thought the escapees would be able to remain ahead today so we wanted to have a guy in the breakaway. But you have to be good enough and need some luck, because the front group was only formed after 55 kilometres.

"Bart De Clercq gains a place in the classification, he felt better after he had a sore back the past days and he hopes he can join a breakaway further down this Vuelta to gain back some time.”