Regarded one of the possible top five contenders before the Vuelta a Espana kicked-off, Wilco Kelderman performed strongly in the opening stages of the event, but faded surprisingly quickly when the peloton hit the mountains. The 23-year old Dutchman fell out of the top ten after losing time on the ultimate climb to Aramon Valdelinares on Sunday, but hopes to use his time trialing prowess to bounce back sooner than expected.

Young Belkin leader performed below expectations on first two mountaintop finishes of the Spanish grand tour, but his self confidence remained unscathed. While Kelderman openly admitted that fighting Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) or Chris Froome (Team Sky) currently remains beyond his capabilities, he believes that strong performance in Tuesday’s time trial stage should allow him to regain a stop inside top ten in the general classification.

“I think it’s too difficult to keep up with Contador, Froome and Quintana in that race. It’s unrealistic. But if I’m well off, then a top ten result still remains attainable and I hope to achieve it after the time trial,” Kelderman told NUsport.

“The time trial will be difficult because of a tough climb, but I have a lot of confidence. All my performances in time trials have been strong so far this year.”

Also Belkin Procycling sports director expressed his confidence in chances of the 23-year old Dutchman.

“If he doesn’t lose more time on bad days, with few strong performances he will be able to gain enough time to think of sixth, seventh, eighth or even higher spot overall,” Erik Dekker said.