Kruijswijk finds Giro d'Italia 2017 route favourable

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At the start of stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia this year, Steven Kruijswijk was in the race lead by three minutes and looked set to become the first-ever Dutch winner of the race. But a crash on the Coll dell'Agnello and subsequent injuries pushed him off the race's final podium behind winner Vincenzo Nibali.

The LottoNl-Jumbo rider may be eyeing a comeback to the race in 2017. After viewing the Giro d'Italia 2017 route presentation, Kruijswijk expressed his interest in the course.

"It's a Giro that suits me, especially the last week with the Mortirollo and the Stelvio going to be interesting," he said via his team's Twitter account.

The queen stage of the race features the Mortirolo and Stelvio passes on the same day on stage 16, and two time trials - one on stage 10 and one on the final stage to Milan, totalling 67.2km against the clock, which could favour the Dutchman.

Kruijswijk's performance in the Giro d'Italia was the best Grand Tour result of his career, despite crashing out of the race lead. Although a fractured rib hampered his abilities on the final mountain stage, putting him off the podium, his fourth-place finish was his third top-10 result in the Giro, after finishing seventh in 2015 and ninth in 2011.

He tried to focus on a high overall results in the Vuelta a España this year, but illness leading into the race put him on the back foot on stage 3, and then he hit an unprotected bollard in the final kilometre of stage 5 and dropped out with a fractured collarbone.