Today's flat stage of the Tour de Suisse presented a perfect opportunity for John Degenkolb but it wasn't to be for the fast German. Having gone down in the feed zone, he still declared himself ready to do the sprint but when he lost the wheel of lead-out man Koen De Kort, he rolled across the line at the back of the peloton.

At the finish of the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse Warren Barguil was the first rider from the team over the line in 37th place despite a strong lead-out from Team Giant-Shimano. In the frantic final kilometres John Degenkolb lost the wheel of his final lead-out man Koen De Kort, and dropped back not able to sprint.

Earlier in the stage Degenkolb's chances of a stage win were hampered when he came down hard in a large crash in the neutralised zone. Thankfully he was able to continue but this was not without discomfort. The team still stuck to the plan and helped the chase throughout the stage but as the finishing sprint unfolded he was not to plan a part in the stage outcome. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was eventually fastest to the line while Degenkolb came home at the back of the bunch.

The stage featured a small two rider breakaway and as a result the racing was fairly steady throughout the stage, but it was book-ended with hectic moments and with several riders coming down in a dangerous part of the neutralised section before the racing had even started.

Thankfully Degenkolb was able to continue, while others were not so lucky. From here on it was a case of allowing the riders ahead some breathing space – with their maximum advantage stretching to just over three minutes – and then gradually reeling them back in again.

The race was all back together with 10km to go and Team Giant-Shimano were prominent at the head of the peloton. However in the final few kilometres Degenkolb lost the wheel of De Kort in the lead-out and as a result De Kort ended up doing his final lead-out turn with just the other team’s sprinters on his wheel.

Tomorrow’s stage should present another sprint opportunity for the team and a chance to have another shot at setting Degenkolb up for the final sprint finish.

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Marc Reef said after the stage:

“John came down pretty hard on the descent in the neutralised section and was a bit bashed up. He was able to continue and we decided to keep riding for him and to chase the peloton as we had planned. Lawson [Craddock] started to help controlling the pace after the feedzone and did a good job behind the two leaders.

“In the preparation for the sprint it was a real fight of different lead-outs but we came through the final kilometre in front with our train. Unfortunately John lost the wheel of Koen and could not sprint from here so he saved his energy. Despite no result the guys set the sprint up well and we will try again tomorrow.”

Giro d’Italia stage winner, Luka Mezgec added:

“The stage went pretty much as expected today, apart from the chaos at the start. It was quite hectic in the final five kilometres but we found each other well and made a perfect lead-out. It was looking good until about one kilometre out when John lost the wheel and was blocked.

“Me personally, I am feeling better day by day. My recovery from the Giro was going well, with some steady recovery rides, until I had stomach problems just before the race in Gippingen. As a result I lost a few vital days before this race started but the feelings are coming back and hopefully this will continue in the coming days.”