Robert Gesink says he won’t quit the Tour de France and will keep fighting, despite enduring a crash-filled first week while also seeing his overall victory hopes dashed on the Col Du Tourmalet. Up until stage twelve, the Dutch hope was leading the overall young rider competition; although he had lost time to most of the favourites, he was still in with a chance of victory. That all ended on Thursday’s brutal first mountain stage which saw the Rabobank leader roll in over seventeen minutes down on stage winner Samuel Sanchez.
“I'm not someone who gives up quickly,” he told Sporza. “I can no longer go for the overall rankings, but I can still win stages. [Yesterday] we showed we ride as a team. Although we had did not win with Maarten Tjallingii who was in the escape, we had a good show.
“It is quite difficult after such a blow on Thursday but I want the repay my team-mates.”
Gesink had a solid end to last season winning the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and the Giro dell'Emilia. He carried that form to the beginning of this year when he won two stages plus the overall classification at the Tour of Oman.
He centred his season around the Tour de France after finishing sixth overall last year while riding in support of Denis Menchov.
“The team has done an awful lot for me, as I was good in the standings. I was also in excellent shape for the Tour but with the setbacks I’ve had in the race, if you don’t get over them quickly it means trouble,” said Gesink.
“On the one hand, I would really want to go home; on the other hand you don’t want to be at home, because then you feel even more disappointed. Fortunately I am not someone who gives up quickly.”
Rabobank have had one stage victory already to savor from this year’s race when Luis Leon Sanchez out-sprinted his breakaway companions on stage nine.
With Gesink far down the overall standings, it’s likely he will be allowed to go on the attack in breakaways. The 25 year old will hope to have recovered from his injuries when the race hits the Alps, as with a climbing prowess like his a stage victory in the mountains won’t be an absurd thought.