"I felt really strong... slowly but surely making progress" - Kevin Vermaerke narrowly misses podium finish at Clasica San Sebastian

After finishing on the podium of the Arctic Race of Norway for the second successive season earlier in the week, Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Kevin Vermaerke narrowly missed out on the top 3 at Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday.

“It was a good race. It was a long travel from Norway to get here so I felt a little tired yesterday but knew I had really good shape," reflected the 23-year-old American in a post-race conversation with the official website of Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL. "I’ve been steadily getting better the last three weeks and knew if it was a hard race then it would suit me a bit better than the stages in Norway."

Whilst it was, in the end, victory for UAE Team Emirates' Marc Hirschi, with Vermaerke crossing the line 17 seconds down in 4th, the talented American prospect continues to prove himself as a rider with very high potential. "I could really save energy in the first half of the race. The guys did really well to cover moves and be in the break with Warren Barguil. They positioned me perfectly coming onto the Jaizkibel," Vermaerke recalls. "From there I just always stayed in the front with Romain Bardet and Chris Hamilton, coming into the second last climb where the selection was made."

"I felt pretty comfortable making that second group behind Pavel Sivakov. When we caught him just before the final climb, I rode my own pace to the top. I just couldn’t quite hold the wheels in the last few hundred metres of the climb," Vermaerke concludes, retaining an optimistic outlook after the performance. "I felt really strong today and slowly but surely making progress in the races. Fourth place is one off the podium, but I think we can all be proud of how we rode today as a team, and I’m really looking forward to my next races now.”