Cold temperatures and heavy downpour affected stage 4 of Tour de Romandie, which saw the youngest of the field Stefan Küng win the stage. The majority of Tinkoff-Saxo finished with the decimated peloton including team captain Rafal Majka, who is reported ready for tomorrow’s queen stage.
Despite the adverse weather conditions with approximately 12ºC and steady rainfall, Tinkoff-Saxo’s sports director Bruno Cenghialta sees the stage as a good day prior to the crucial stage 5.
"It was a good day and in view of tomorrow's all-important stage I think our squad had a good race. They made an effort in the final climb, put the group in a bit of a difficult situation and six of them were in the final group at the finish line. It was a good stage for the morale because it was rainy and cold but they performed. They raced very well in the final kilometers, always keeping in mind that Saturday's stage is the most important one”, asserts Bruno Cenghialta.
Stage 4 took the riders 170km from La Neuveville to Fribourg. Ultimately, Stefan Küng (BMC) prevailed beating both fellow breakaway riders and the 53-man strong main bunch.
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka sits 32nd, 1:15 behind race leader Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEdge), going into stage 5, where the GC-favorites will battle it out on a total of four 1st category climbs on the way to Champex-Lac.
“No rain is forecast for tomorrow but for Rafal that wouldn't make any difference. He feels mentally ready for the queen stage of Tour of Romandie and so does the rest of the guys but we all know it will be tough. Nibali, Froome and Quintana will also target the GC, so we will have to be very attentive and stage a tough battle”, finishes Bruno Cenghialta.
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