Steven Kruijswijk proved that he is feeling strong again in the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia. The LottoNL-Jumbo front man finished sixth after a long breakaway in the rain of north Italy. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) won the stage.

“This was another confirmation of Steven’s form,” sports director, Frans Maassen said. “Every rider in the leading group was a strong man. That proves that it isn’t easy to be part of it.”

Most of the riders in the breakaway attacked earlier in this Giro already. Kruijswijk had a rendezvous with some riders who were in his company last weekend too.

“The first ten riders in the general classification are holding each other tight,” Maassen explained. “The strong men just behind them are getting a little more space to attack and they take more initiative too. But you have to be strong enough, of course.”

The breakaway arose on the first climb of the day, on the Passo del Trebbio.

“I always end up in the front of the pack on such a climb,” he explained. “When they try to attack, following is the best choice. You need to have a superb day to win the stage. I didn’t have it today, which meant I had to gamble. The Giro is hard. I’m just trying to take my chance. Next week there will be more stages that will suit me better than today.”

Thursday isn’t one of those stages. The first 127 kilometres of the ride from Imola to Vicenza are flat. In the final, there are three little climbs.

“It’s hard to say what kind of race it’s going to be”, Maassen said. “It depends on who wants to take control. I think that a breakaway is able to make it until the end. It’s important that we try to be part of it when it’s a group of eight or more riders.”