Wilco Kelderman's frustration was evident at the summit of Brockhaus on Sunday. His overall hopes for the Giro d'Italia were gone, at least partially due to a mechanical mishap.

A spoke broke on the descent of Passo Lanciano, forcing Kelderman to change bikes prematurely. When the road started up again at Brockhaus, Kelderman struggled. The gap of a few meters quickly ballooned to several minutes.

Kelderman, who finished about 11 minutes ahead of stage winner Beulah Hansgrohe's teammate Jai Hindley, told reporters that the broken spoke was due to heat from the disc brake rotor.

Predictably, the Specialized and Roval PR teams scrambled to refute the theory, and Kelderman retracted it at the start of Tuesday's 10th stage in Pescara. Adults remember that he may have bumped into them on the road.

"After the race, I did a closer look at what happened, and I think I actually hit a hole early in the stage," Kelderman told Cycling News. The wheel wasn't that strong, and that can happen in a race like that." But it wasn't about the disc or anything like that."

"It was a super fast downhill, so maybe that was it. It was super hot and the disc made a little noise, but that's normal when you're going fast and braking. But the discs are very well tested and they do a lot of control, so there's no way the spokes could break because of the discs. That's not the point.

Whatever the reason or circumstances of the broken spoke, the wheel change and subsequent catch-up did not help Kelderman's cause in the blockhouse, where Ineos Grenadiers, replacing Richard Kalapas, was setting a horrible tempo! It is certain that Giulio Ciccone (Trek Segafredo) and Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) were soon caught in the squeeze.

"It was a super fast descent, just a normal descent, but I broke two spokes and had to switch bikes. 'Especially on the fast descents where you're going full throttle for the final. I didn't have time to breathe and come back, so it really wasn't good."

Kelderman's preparation for the Giro was weakened by his big crash and concussion in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"I wouldn't have been in the best group. My preparation wasn't the best and I didn't have the confidence to be in the best group. But I could have been in the top ten. I didn't have the power anymore to recover and go full on the climbs.

Kelderman, who finished third overall two years ago, came into this Giro as part of a leadership trio with Hindley and Emmanuel Buchmann, Sunweb's stablemate in the 2020 race, but his role is now one of deluxe domestique. His current ranking of 23rd, 11:02 behind Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo), may give him room for a stage win later in the race, but he dismissed the idea of gaining time in the Fuga Vidone to try again in the race for a top-10 finish.

"Jai and Emmanuel have proven that they are the best team members and can fight for wins and podiums," Kelderman said. 'Maybe they can go for a stage win, but that's the main thing.'