Returning to racing after the Tour de France, Adriano Malori was tremendously close to glory on Thursday during the Eneco Tour ITT, a 14km route in Hoogerheide with some rough roads, yet without technical sections.

The Traversetolo-based rider was only beaten by two locals - Jos van Emden (16’34”) and Wilco Kelderman (+5”) - after a very powerful display (3rd, +7”).

Movistar GC rider Andrey Amador had a bad day day as he could only managed 64th.

"I'm not happy, but it was a route to fast riders with great power," he said. "It was for good rouleurs and did not suit my characteristics."

Malori  now sits in 3rd overall, 7” behind the white jersey, with three difficult stages full of hills ahead for him and his team-mates. The first one, from Riemst to Sittard-Geleen, will include no less than 23 small hills in just 179.6km on the roads from the Amstel Gold Race, with the weekend bringing small versions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Saturday) and the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Sunday).