Martin Elmiger rushed away from the peloton to join the breakaway on today’s stage in Qatar. He took his leads, but didn’t have the feeling that the breakaway could go all the way. He is satisfied with his 4th place and his level of fitness at the point of the season.

He says he wasn’t completely tired at the end of the race and he tried his luck just like Niki Terpstra did. But he wasn’t as strong as he thought. It was a gamble and sometimes it works, but not this time.  

“I felt good.  Despite the hard effort, I still had some reserves at the end.  And like Niki Terpstra, who also still had some strength in his legs, I decided to take a chance with an attack at the end.  It was a gamble and there are times when it does in fact work.  But this time, I just over-estimated how much strength I still had,” said Elmiger.

As said, Elmiger never had the feeling that the breakaway could go all the way to the finish line. The wind was very tough and right in their face and it wasn’t everyone, who were taking their turns in the front of the breakaway. 

“I never got it into my head that this break was actually going to hold on until the end.  We took advantage of the intermediate sprint with 30 kilometers to go to the line.  The wind was tough and mostly in our faces.  We worked, but not everyone was pulling his weight.  And having two Omega Pharma-Quickstep riders coming to the group, the balance within the group changed. “

Elmiger is disappointed with coming away with only a 4th place, but he is also very happy with his shape. It means a good season for him.

“On the one hand, I am very disappointed to have come away from this with only 4th place, but from another point of view, I’m really happy with my level of fitness.  This bodes well for the future because there will be more opportunities in this race, not to mention the rest of the races throughout the season, which will be a long one.” 

Though tired after the day, Elmiger was in no doubt about just where he made his mistake, beginning around the final 300 meters marker:

“In the first race of the season, it is tough to judge just where your opponents are in their condition too.  But then I saw that Terpstra was working hard.  After the first attack of another Belgian, I realized that there was a moment of hesitation from everyone.  And so I chose to go then hoping that they would watch.  Everyone was tired from the effort of the day. “

It was a chance he took and it didn’t end as he hoped, but he doesn’t regret anything. He says he had a reasonable chance of succeeding.

“We really tapped into our reserves going so much against the wind, keeping a small advantage over the rest of the peloton.  So I had a reasonable chance of succeeding.  But Terpstra was too strong.  So really I do not have many regrets, even if this current disappointment stings.”