Suisse Sprint Stage

It was a relatively uneventful stage in Suisse. It was one of two stages that were almost guaranteed field sprints, so the sprinter teams were not about to let the opportunity slip away from them. The most "exciting" part of the stage was the scary, 18% downhill, neutral start that actually involved a big crash after one rider's front tire blew up. The neutral section was extended while the riders involved in the incident were tended to by the medical staff and made it back into the group. Finally when the race did start, it was two guys who went away from the gun and the peloton settled in for a calmer day of racing. There was a good bit of wind, so the stage was a little bit nervous at moments. Due to the wind and a high pace, it also seemed to be a little harder than usual to just sit in the field and be relaxed, trying to use the day for as much recovery as possible. All in all though the stage turned out ok for us. We worked hard to protect and help Danny get to the final sprint. It was a long sprint and without a proper leadout train, it is hard to compete against a guy like Cavendish. We did our best to help him though, and he delivered a solid result coming in 6th. Tomorrow should be another opportunity for him, so we'll do our best again to put him into good position to try and surprise some people. That's all from Suisse. Guten nacht!