| After a brilliant opening week with several top results and a memorable stage win with Michael Storer, Team DSM continued in exactly the same vein in the second week; taking two stunning stage wins with Storer and Romain Bardet, plus impressive podium places with Alberto Dainese and Chris Hamilton, and a top ten finish on every stage.
Coming out of the rest day the team were in a buoyant mood, racing with an air of confidence and smiles on their faces. Immediately putting that confidence into effect on stage ten Storer, Martijn Tusveld and Thymen Arensman made the day's breakaway. Holding the break together, the team set up Storer perfectly who rounded it off with a climbing and descending masterclass, claiming the team's second stage win of the race.
Stage 11 saw Romain Bardet fight with the best climbers on the steep ramps to take sixth place from the peloton, before he came oh-so-close the following day where the late attack was caught at one kilometre to go. Tusveld continued the streak of top tens for the team with tenth on the stage, before Grand Tour debutant Dainese picked up yet another strong podium finish in the sprint with third place.
Heading into the weekend, the team were lively and wanted to continue to show their Royal DSM colours at the head of the race again. Helped brilliantly on the flat lands by the team, Bardet made it into the winning stage 14 breakaway. A marked man, he used all of his experience and some expert coaching from the car, biding his time before launching an attack at the perfect moment on the final climb to take a sublime solo win; Bardet's first Vuelta stage win and Team DSM's third of the race.
Yesterday saw the team come to the fore once again racing aggressively from the flag drop and getting four riders into what was the break of the day. After some tactical racing, Hamilton pushed on out of the squabbling chase group, riding a superb final 50 kilometres solo to take a great third place at the finish and round off an incredible week of racing for the team.
We hope you've enjoyed all of the exciting racing so far, as we certainly have! With a good rest day behind us, we'll keep trying our best to put on a show for you all at home and keep fighting for more great results here.
Revel in the downtime today, because we expect some fireworks in the last week and your continued support will help to inspire us! | 