Steven Kruijswijk proved that he is improving after his off-season surgery and is on track for a good Giro d'Italia when he finished 7th in his first major test in the Tour de Langkawi queen stage. The team is now looking forward to getting back into sprinting action with Theo Bos but haven't given up hope of splitting things in the crosswinds.

Steven Kruijswijk of the Belkin Pro Cycling Team climbed to seventh place after placing the same on the queen stage in Malaysia's Tour de Langkawi. Kruijswijk, with the help of the team, made the escape to climb the monster Genting Highlands 1600 metres above Kuala Lumpur.

"I'm coming from a long winter with my injury. I wanted to give it a shot. I think I'm at a good point now and I want to keep improving towards the Giro d'Italia," Kruijswijk said. "This long climb was a long effort and you go really deep. The last two years I had problems with my left leg, now I feel I'm getting better and better. It's a good sign." 

Iranian Mirsamad Poorseyedigolakhour (Tabriz Petrochemical) slowly spun to the finish line four seconds ahead of Eritrean Merhawi Kudus (MTN-Qhubeka). Kruijswijk placed 46 seconds behind.

The entire green and black Belkin team made sure of success for Kruijswijk, who is racing the Giro d'Italia later this year with Wilco Kelderman. The race immediately split up, with three team riders in the 31-man move: Kruijswijk, Theo Bos and Jack Bobridge.

"We had to have numbers in the escape and that's what our rides did," sports director, Michiel Elijzen. "It's a good sign that the guys are paying attention and feeling well."

"Jack did a great job, it was good we got in the break," Kruijswijk added. "Jack pulled until six K to the top."

Kruijswijk lost contact with his rivals with three kilometres to go in the 15-kilometre final ramp.

"I tried to go with them but couldn't keep up in the steep parts. The best rider naturally rises to the the top."

“The group split and we had Stevie (Kruijswijk) and he was our main rider for today. It worked well and then we just rode tempo through the valley to keep the other group away,” Bobridge explained to Cyclingnews at the finish. “It split naturally. It happens sometimes, everybody is nervous of the stage and a big group went away. We were lucky that we were there.”

Elijzen explained that the team must pay attention in the next six days. Even though the positions should stay the same, cross-winds could explode the race and Belkin could use that to its advantage.

"We want to sprint for Theo and we will work to keep the group together because seventh is good for Steven," said Elijzen. "However, we must pay attention for escapes."