"It's a bit of the Giro's fault that they made the third week so tough" - Ilan van Wilder gives his view on lack of Giro d'Italia GC excitement

Following the departure of Remco Evenepoel from the Giro d'Italia, Soudal - Quick-Step were left somewhat rudderless. Ilan van Wilder has impressed in recent days however, keeping contact with the general classification favourites albeit without the Maglia Rosa battle fully commencing yet.

"There was no real racing on that climb. That makes sense. We were 30 kilometres from the finish," Van Wilder reveals following the conclusion of the 15th stage, where the 23-year-old Belgian finished alongside the likes of Geraint Thomas, Primoz Roglic and Joao Almeida and he now sits 15th in the GC with an outside chance of finishing inside the top 10.

Despite over two weeks of racing having taken place, the favourites for the Maglia Rosa are yet to really ignite the race. According to Van Wilder, the fault for this lies with the organisers of the Giro d'Italia and their stacking of the third week with such a heavily mountainous route.

"It's a bit of the Giro's fault that they made the third week so tough. That gives us a passive race. I understand that you can't throw your powers yet," he explains. "I think we will only see a real spectacle next week. Because in that week you can lose everything every day. I am especially happy that I was able to join the group of favourites. We still had a small gap. The legs felt good all day."