Andreas Leknessund battles to hold on to top 10 placing at the Giro d'Italia: "I cracked and just had to ride my own climb"

The breakthrough Giro d'Italia of Andreas Leknessund continued on stage 18. Although the Team DSM leader lost time to the riders contesting for the Maglia Rosa, he successfully held on to his top 10 position.

“In the finale it went perfect when chasing Jay Vine. It would have been nice to stay in that group, but unfortunately, I cracked and just had to ride my own climb," the 24-year-old Norwegian who now sits in 8th in the general classification, 4:47 down on race leader, Geraint Thomas told the official website of Team DSM following the conclusion of the stage.

Eventually crossing the line 16th position alongside Ilan van Wilder, Leknessund successfully held onto a top 10 placing, with him now holding an advantage of 1:53 over 11th placed rider, Bruno Armirail. "It was hard, but also nice to try out. We’ve still three stages to go, so let’s see what we can do there!”

"“It was a tough day in the saddle for our sprinters, but they came through it in a good way. They supported Andreas as much as possible and in the end Andreas did a really good job by following the best guys of the race," recapped Team DSM coach Matt Winston. "Unfortunately, he went a little bit over his limit there after which is legs started pulling off in the end. But overall, he dug really deep and did a good job there so we can be really happy with that. We’re still in the top ten of the GC as we’re heading into the final three stages."