Top ten was the ambition and so it is frustrating for Lotto Soudal that they go into the final mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia with Maxime Monfort and Jurgen Van den Broeck in 11th and 12th respectively. "We have not reached our goal," Van Den Broeck told Het Neuwsblad.

Van Den Broeck was in a good position after the time trial but a crash in stage 15 and a subsequent bout of illness has set him back. Yesterday hehad his own hotel room.

"Since the rest day on Monday, I have suffered from diarrhea," he said. "During the race, I don't have many problems, but the super legs I had in the time trial are gone. I can ride at my own pace, but accelerations are difficult.

"At the moment this is my place. At present, I have to finish the race and see where I end up.

"We did not reach our target. This is the toughest grand tour that I have done in my career, but in itself it is not a problem. If I had had my good legs for three weeks, I would have been in the top 10. The crash and intestinal problems destroyed it."

"I still have a small chance," Monfort said. "I can go on the offensive in Sestriere. But for FDJ the tenth place of Geniez is also important. They will never let me go. To finish eleventh would be a little disappointing, but at the same time I am glad that I have again found my best level from 2011 (when he finished sixth in the Vuelta, ed.).

"If the big names go full gas, we need to go at our own pace. Top ten in this Giro is really difficult. " 

Monfort also reflected on the incident last Sunday, when he didn't wait for Van den Broeck who crashed on the descent of the Passo Daone. 

"If I had done so, I would have destroyed all my GC chances," he said. "The team didn't ask me to do so. Jurgen and I started with the same status in this Giro."