Kruijswijk lost the maglia rosa and now lost the Giro

Steven Kruijswijk started Stage 19 of the giro in the maglia rosa and a lead of 3 minutes over second placed Esteban Chaves. All that he had to do to win the giro was to stay upright over the next two stages and he would be the first Dutch rider to win the Giro.

Fast forward to the end of stage 19 and after a dramatic stage, where Kruijswijk crashed on the descent of the Colle dell'Agnello, had problems with his bike after it flipped several times requiring a bike change. He struggled to finish the stage coming in 4.54 minutes after Nibali.

With hours to go before the start of stage 20 - Guillestre to Sant’Anna di Vinadio, I am calling it now that Kruijswijk will not recover and retake the maglia rosa before the final stage into Torino.

Why have I reached this conclusion given that Kruijswijk was the strongest rider to reach the top of the Cima Coppi - Colle dell'Agnello?

Well, Kruijswijk hit the snow bank in the descent of the Agnello head first,  somersaulting before finally getting up. The cuts and grazes hide the true state of his injuries with x-rays later revealing a fractured rib. He is quoted in cyclingnews stating “My body hurts like hell and so it’s all over”.

Photo: Herald Sun

We still do not know if he will start the stage in Guillestre tonight. The team will make the decision in the morning French time. Even if he does start he will not have slept well. His injuries will hamper his ability to get over the three climbs, especially with Nibali and Valverde attacking to unhinge the maglia rosa from Chaves’ back.

To win a three week grand tour you need a strong team around you. Look how Nibali won yesterday's stage to Risoul with Scarponi getting in the breakaway. This allowed the team to call him back to help Nibali. Similarly Orica-GreenEdge did the same with Plaza to help Chaves.

Kruijswijk has the weakest team of the three possible contenders - Chaves, Nibali and Valverde. LottoNL-Jumbo rarely get riders in the breakaway in the mountain stages. Their only hope is for LottoNL to get their strongest rider, Enrico Battaglin, in a breakaway on the first mountain climb, allowing him to be called back to assist Kruijswijk as he goes on the attack.

Kruijswijk also does not have a strong team to drive the peloton to pierce the armour, as Robbie McEwen explained last night, and soften up Chaves by making one hell of a momentous attack on Colle della Lombarda.  Therefore, Kruijswijk is likely to be isolated on the first or second mountain climb, struggling with his injuries.  

I am sure no one wants to lose a race, let alone a grand tour, because of a crash. But that is professional racing. To win a grand tour you have to time trial, climb a series of mountains and also descend them.

Unfortunately for Kruijswijk, the crash on the descent of the Colle dell'Agnello has lost him the race, not only the lead. As he said, it was a silly mistake.