Kruijswijk looking for climbing consistency at Volta a Catalunya
21 March 2019 03:00
While the sprinters and Classics specialists focus on this Saturday's Milan-San Remo, many of the pro peloton's very best climbers, including Jumbo-Visma's Steven Kruijswijk, ready themselves for the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which starts on Monday. Kruijswijk can expect the full support of his teammates, as it was announced in recent days that the team's main sprinter, Dylan Groenewegen, would forego Catalunya in favour of riding his first Milan-San Remo, in order to gain experience. "It's a very nice race," Kruijswijk said of Catalunya in a video posted on their site by Jumbo-Visma. "I think I've raced there almost every year since I turned pro.ADVERTISEMENT "It's a course purely for climbers, with two uphill finishes [on stages 3 and 4]. I know the race well, and the goal is to be as close to the podium as possible – or actually get onto it." If that sounds slightly unambitious, versus trying to go for the win, it's worth remembering that despite Kruijswijk's clear ability and consistency – over a number of years – the Dutchman has only ever taken two pro victories in his career: a stage of the 2011 Tour de Suisse and the overall prize at the Arctic Tour of Norway in 2014. In 2016, he came close to pulling off what would have been the biggest win of his – or indeed any rider's – career when he crashed while leading the Giro d'Italia.
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