Primoz Roglic has come in tenth in the tough sixth stage of the Tour de France with finish on the Mûr-de-Bretagne. Team LottoNL-Jumbo captain Steven Kruijswijk ended as twenty-fifth, twelve seconds behind stage winner Dan Martin.

“It was a very difficult day”, Kruijswijk said. “The stress level was very high on the undulating, narrow roads. I wanted to start the climb among the first riders, but everyone wants to. It was just a matter of riding up that mountain as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I lost a few seconds in the end. That’s a pity.”

Team LottoNL-Jumbo was initially surprised by the echelons halfway through the stage which split the peloton in three parts. After a long chase, that situation was eventually corrected.

“It would have been a pity if Primoz had lost time today”, Kruijswijk continued. “We want to keep him in front as long as possible. Especially because he could win the stage today. The way the stage developed surprised me as well, but I could manage to come back quickly with the help of Timo Roosen. I’m glad that this stage is over. Hopefully we’ll get two more bunch sprints tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”

Sports Director Frans Maassen was also glad that this stage ended without too much time loss. “I think this has been a good lesson to be extra alert in the coming stages. All in all it has been a good day if you look at the result.”