The LottoNL-Jumbo rider was in second place at the start of day with a big weekend of stages for the general classification riders, and while the likes of Tejay van Garderen saw their overall hopes take a hit in the inclement weather, Kelderman now leads Warren Barguil by 16 seconds.
"It’s nice that I have the jersey," said Kelderman. "I felt good today, the team put me in the perfect spot at the beginning of the final climb and I was then able to follow. I was able to accelerate in the last hundred metres."
While Kelderman is yet to taste victory in 2016, the 25-year-old has now lead two WorldTour stage races following his day in yellow at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco in April.
With the summit finish to Solder on stage 7, followed by an individual time trial around Davos, the Tour de Suisse concludes Sunday with a hilly circuit stage in Davos with sports director Jan Boven identifying tomorrow's stage as the most decisive.
"It's nice that Kelderman now has the lead. We're going to do everything to defend the jersey," Boven said. "Tomorrow is a special day, we climb up to 2700 metres. And above 2000 meters, it’s always exciting. We saw that Kelderman is good and hopefully, he can hold that level in the coming days."
Kelderman backed up the words of his sports director, adding that he is looking forward to the high mountains with a second WorldTour podium finish within his reach
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"The higher the better. I am back from altitude training so I'm used to the altitude. And then, of course, I look forward to the time trial. A good classification should definitely be possible by the end of the race," said the Dutch national time trial champion who was third at last year's Eneco Tour.
