Having spent the last few months recovering from injury, Sacha Modolo got a great comeback to the sprinting action when he finished fourth in today's fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse. The result comes as a great boost of confidence for the Italian as he approaches his Tour de France debut.

After several years at the pro continental level, Sacha Modolo is set to make his Tour de France debut with Lampre-Merida later this summer. However, he got his preparations for the race hampered when a crash at Paris-Roubaix saw him miss some important racing.

This week he is making his comeback and today he got his first chance to test himself against his rival sprinters for more than two months. Having been brought into position by Andrea Palini and Maximilano Richeze, he did well by taking fourth, a result that was a welcome boost of confidence for the fast Italian.

"The sprint already started 500m from the finish," he said. "At that point, I was fighting with Sagan for the best position for the final corner and I got onto Cavendish's wheel. Mark went from a far, I reacted immediately and held onto him for a while. In the end, he was too fast and deserved the victory.

"For me, a 4th place is good in the first opportunity after a couple of months and I have to thank Palini and Richeze for the great work they have done for me. The legs are good and tomorrow I will try again. I was not hampered by the leg contusion I suffered in yesterday's crash."