“It was a though day,” Gesink said. “It took a while before we were able to break away. On the last climb, I tried to close the gap at once. My legs were good and I overtook Pauwels and Roche. I just could not close the gap to Calmejane. Then I exploded a bit. I tried to recover, but I came in second.”

Gesink heard that Calemjane cramping, but was not able to take advantage of that. 

“I was not that fresh anymore myself. I had loads of energy, but by that time it was all gone,” Gesink laughed. “I rode a very good race today. The plan was to ride my own tempo, accelerate and close the gap at once. That plan unfortunately did not work today."

“There are many more opportunities to come. This was only the first. I do not like the Jura Mountains that much, because it’s hilly all the time. Tomorrow, I will try to get some rest -- if that is even possible in a stage like tomorrow. After that, there are new chances and we are going to play the game again.” 

“At four kilometres from the finish line, they were saying that Calmejane had cramps,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven said. “But when you see the gap not decreasing and even growing, you know the cramp was not that severe." 

“At two kilometres from the top of the last climb, Robert was 50 metres from Calmejane. We thought he would close that gap soon, but Calmejane was just a bit better than Robert today. 

“You have to be proud on the race he rode. Everybody looked at Robert today. If you ride to a second place while everybody is watching you, you rode a very good race.”