Robert Gesink returned to the spotlight in the Vuelta a Espana when he rode solo for most of the final climb on today's mountain stage. Despite coming up short, the Dutchman was pleased with his ride and vows to attack again later in the race.

Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM lit up the 11th stage at the 69th Vuelta a España, with Robert Gesink opening up an exciting attack with 5km to go on the steep uphill finale to Aralar on Wednesday.

The Belkin leader was finally caught with less than 1.5km to go, and crossed the line 10th place at 21 seconds behind stage winner Fabio Aru (Astana).

"Not so much with the 10th place, but I am very happy by the way I raced," Gesink said. "I was feeling good, and I wanted to give it a go by myself at 5km to go. Maybe in the end, it was a bit too early. If you don't try, you never win. If I feel good, I will try again in the coming days."

Gesink remained ninth overall, now 2:55 behind race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
 

Wilco Kelderman couldn't match the accelerations of the favorites in the final kilometres, and crossed the line 16th at 1:35 back. He slotted into 14th overall at 5:00 back in what's his second grand tour of the season.

"It's my place, not good, not bad," Kelderman said. "I think it was a little bit like yesterday. Not really super. It's OK. I think 12th or 13th, that's my place. It was really hard. You had to give it your all, all the way to the top."
 

It was fast from the gun in the 153.4km stage from Pamplona to Santuario de San Miguel de Aralar in the foothills of the Pyrénées. Huge crowds lined the final climb as many fans poured in from nearby Basque Country.

Sports Director Erik Dekker took encouragement from Gesink's daring attack, even though it fell short of victory.

"It was a really exciting stage. The war continued," Dekker said. "Robert was attacking, and he was caught with one and a half kilometer to go. It was really exciting to see this. It's good for Robert that he did this. You cannot plan on something like this. It depends on his legs. Robert had a really good day."
 

The 69th Vuelta continues Thursday with the 12th stage held on a circuit course in Logroño, with eight laps for a total of 166.4km.

"It's a flat stage. We will do laps. I don't think there will be surprises, but you have to be concentrated for all the stage," Dekker said. "We have [Robert] Wagner for the sprint. We have to take care of Robert and Wilco as well."