Laurens De Plus doesn't care about 10th place in GC as long as his team didn't win: "It's not that I have a super feeling about that."

Laurens De Plus was among the pleasant surprises of this Giro d'Italia, finally finding his 2019 legs. The Belgian who spent whole race assisting his leader Geraint Thomas managed to stay in the GC through his strong performances and finished 10th overall, although he'd have rather won the race as a team.

"To be honest, Saturday's disappointment dominates," De Plus tells Sporza. "For three weeks we can be proud of the performance of our team, but we were beaten by pure strength. We didn't see that coming."

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De Plus saw Primoz Roglic take the overall victory after the climb time trial. "We started from our own strength because Geraint was the most consistent, always on the right place and because his third week is usually his strongest weapon. Roglic just timed his form well and saved himself for that last important stage. Oh, we must go on. But it remains a bitter pill to swallow."

"I am a teammate in heart and soul," De Plus explains his disappointment. "It's always been that way. Maybe I'll be proud of it in a few weeks. Especially on the performance then, rather than about that tenth place. It's not that I have a super feeling about that."

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