Wilco Kelderman flies back into Vuelta GC fight with successful breakaway - "What we did was perfect"

BORA - hansgrohe had until stage 11 a very disappointing GC situation, but Wilco Kelderman managed to bounce back and jump to sixth place at the Vuelta a Espana after joining the large breakaway on stage 12.

“We wanted to get into the breakaway today, but it took a long time until the peloton let us go. In the end, we were represented by Matteo [Fabbro] and me," Kelderman said in a post-race interview. He was the best positioned rider out of the 32, and with the breakaway letting the gap grow widely - mostly due to incapacity to chase - Kelderman benefited greatly from the move. "Our goal was obviously to take the stage win today," he said however.

"Matteo did an excellent job in the breakaway, and particularly on the climb. In terms of strategy, usually a long climb like this suits me pretty well," he continued. Fabbro took over the responsibilities of the group throughout much of the climb, until the final five kilometers. Kelderman helped close down some moves from Élie Gesbert, but could not match the attack of Richard Carapaz in the finale.

"I think what we did was perfect. We tried to set a high tempo and drop the other riders. It was working really well but ultimately Carapaz was just that extra bit too strong, but we know we did our all today," he concluded. Now 6:28 minutes away from Remco Evenepoel however, Kelderman sits in sixth position - in contrast with Jai Hindley and Sergio Higuita's respective 13th and 22nd spots in the GC.