BMC Racing Team's Stefan Küng was named "most combative rider" of the Tour de Romandie Sunday while teammate Rohan Dennis finished fifth in the final stage individual time trial.
Küng was the solo winner of a chilly, rain-soaked Stage 4 on Friday. Dennis finished 22 seconds off the winning time of Tony Martin in Sunday's 17.3-kilometer race against the clock. Küng, who is the world individual pursuit champion on the track and the Under 23 national road and time trial champion, finished 15th in the time trial, 43 seconds back.
"It was really a rough yesterday," Dennis said. "I took a bit of a beating and lost a bit of confidence. But today was a new day and I just went out there and thought 'Okay, if it happens, it happens'. I just rode to the best of my ability. It's a good day I think."
Two days ago Dennis also lost the Hour Record on what was a bad day for the Australian.
"Shit happens," he said. "It is good that someone has taken it. It shows that I can go quicker. No offence to Dowsett. His last 10k were much more impressive than mine. His pacing was much better. It shows what I can improve on and it shows that there are possibilities to go quicker. I'll be back. I am not sure when but one day I'll come back and try to take it from him or from Wiggins if he takes it from him."
For now Dennis is focused on his road racing.
"I think I will be back in either the Tour of Belgium or the Dauphiné. It's not 100% yet but it is one of those two for sure," he said.
"It's great," Küng said. "It was a great race for me. To win in Fribourg in front of this home crowd was amazing. Today on these roads in Lausanne I really had the crowds on my side. It is a nice race. I really loved it. It was a nice parcours. It had a bit of everything. Now I finished 15th in this time trial so it was a good end to this tour for me. I come out quite fresch and fully motivated for the Giro.
"It is impressive how the guys in the peloton start to know you. When I won the stage, so many riders came to me the next day to congratulate me. The crowds take pictures. I goes very fast but in a good way."
Küng now turns his attention to his first grand tour.
"I just go there to learn but as I said before the Tour de Romandie, if I have a chance, why not give it a go there? That was the case in the Fribourg stage. The Giro is something else. I will see how it goes for me but if I have an opportunity I am prepared to take it."
Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha Team) won the race overall, 17 seconds ahead of his teammate, Simon Spilak and by 35 seconds over Christopher Froome (Team Sky). Darwin Atapuma, in 18th place at 3:12, was best for the BMC Racing Team in the final standings.
"One victory with a young kid, a big talent coming through, is already a big bonus for us," sports director Max Sciandri said. "It is a good reward for the work we did. The team is good. Some of the young kids like Senni and Flakemore had a tough race with bad conditions. They are lighter guys, not like Stefan who is a stronger guy that is good in the rain.
"Rohan felt pretty good, even for him it was a hard day today in the rain. GC-wise Damiano [Caruso] was a little bit under expectations but he came from a hard training camp and his next goal is the Giro so we didn't really expect him to be at a high level here."
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