In the frenzied ninth stage of the Tour de France, Team Belkin put their best foot forward once again. Bauke Mollema and Laurens ten Dam, thanks to the help of Robert Gesink, climbed in the General Classification to the third and fourth place respectively.

“Porte was done fairly early in the stage and I was okay with that,” ten Dam said. “Now I am fourth. I did not expect that going in, although I have to say that last year, I finished eighth in the Vuelta and there were a lot of riders there who I am racing with now. It’s going really well – I hope we can keep it up.”

Robert Gesink put in a big workload in the service of his teammates today.

“In the finale, I tried to chase down Martin and Fuglsang as we were eyeing a stage win with Bauke. Unfortunately, I did not get any help from the other teams. I am happy that I am back on a good level and that I can play a role for the guys. That gives me a lot of pleasure.”

Bauke Mollema  was also satisfied with the events of the second day in the Pyrenees. “I had to really gut it out, but the third place result is a fitting reward,” Bauke Mollema analysed afterwards. “It’s been a good weekend. It seems I rank up there with the best climbers in the Tour. I hope we can keep it up for two more weeks. We’re not only getting good work of the guys in the mountains, but our guys for the flats are performing admirably as well. We’re riding very well as a team.”