Wilco Kelderman was dropped early in the queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. The Team LottoNL-Jumbo front-man didn’t have any power in his legs and wasn’t able to finish close to stage winner Chris Froome (Team Sky).

“I tried to give everything I had,” Kelderman said after the race. “But when I was dropped, I let it go. I think that the crash, which I was involved in earlier this week, had more impact on my performance than I thought. Despite the fact I kept feeling better every day this week, my left leg felt quite strained yesterday. I still had that feeling this morning. I’m fed up with that.”

Kelderman decided not to force too much after he lost ground and decided to focus on the last day of the stage race.

“The Dauphiné is an important race, so you want to be as good as possible," he continued. “It’s very annoying that it doesn’t work out. I think that my position on the bike wasn’t right after my crash. Maybe I did too much with one leg over the last couple of days. Now, my left leg feels strained. That soreness was too heavy today, so I didn’t have any power. I was forced to take it easy. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow, if so I will attack."

“Wilco is in shape,” sports director, Merijn Zeeman said. “He showed that yesterday. He is building his form, but his crash earlier this week gave him some trouble today. We didn’t expect that, so the osteopath will take good care of him again tonight. Tomorrow is another day with an interesting profile. We’re going to give everything we have to deliver a good result.”