For the third day in a row, Nicolas Roche attacked on a climb in the finale of a Tour of Britain stage. However, the ascent was not hard enough and the Irishman never got a gap.

A breakaway of four riders dominated today’s 177.3 kilometer long fifth stage of Exmouth to Exeter in the Southwestern part of Great Britain. The sprinter teams were working hard in the finale to bring them back and Tinkoff-Saxo’s Nicolas Roche even launch an attack in the lumpy finale but the climb wasn’t steep and long enough  to make the difference and the stage ended with a solo win for the Austrian escapee, Mathias Brändle (IAM).

Thundering towards the short but steep climb situated only 3 kilometers from the finish line, Tinkoff-Saxo’s Manuele Boaro and Rory Sutherland were setting Nicolas Roche beautifully up for the testy finale. And even though both Roche and Juul-Jensen launched fierce attacks from the field, it was Mathias Brändle (IAM) who managed to get away from his former companions to take the solo win.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Nicolas Roche is still fourth overall, 14 seconds behind the leader, Michael Kwiatkowski (Omega-Pharma Quick Step).

“Well, the boys did an excellent job throughout the day and Roche was in a very good position on the final climb, which apparently wasn’t steep enough to make a difference," sports director Lars Michaelsen says.

Christopher  Juul-Jensen adds:

“First of all, I think we did a very good stage today. Going in on the final climb, I was sitting in front of Nicolas and he told me to go for for it and so I did. However, a had few riders on my tail in no time and when I backed out, Nico launched the counter-attack but it just wasn’t steep enough to make the crucial move. But there are plenty of opportunities the coming days and I think the stages from now on will be a thrill to watch.”