On Saturday Rui Costa will line up at the Tour de Suisse, trying to win the race for the third year in a row. Today he proved that he is getting into his best condition when he launched a strong attack in the finale of the GP Gippingen.

This year Rui Costa has made the Tour de France his big target and after a recovery period, he has prepared himself specifically for the French event. He will use the Tour de Suisse to fine-tune his condition and he will line-up as the winner of the 2012 and 2013 editions of the event.

Today he proved that he is ready for both the Swiss race and the Tour when he got close to the victory in the very hilly GP Gippingen. On the final of 15 laps of the 12km circuit, he attacked on the only climb and got clear with two riders for company.

Unfortunately, the final kilometres were flat and behind the diminished sprint trains got organized. Costa and his companions were reeled in close to the finish and in the end he rolled across the line in 27th.

"The signs offered by Rui Costa, returning after a few weeks of training, are good," sports director Pedrazzini said. "Rui is always determined, each race is a good opportunity for him to try to win and see how his legs respond. His attack in the finale was good but it was a shame that the peloton had time to get back. 

"I also want to underline the good performance of the rest of the team, especially [Rafael] Valls, but I don't want to gorget [Sacha] Modolo and [Mattia] Cattaneo what finished in the second group just behind the front group."