Astana Pro Team rider Jakob Fuglsang finished 5th on Sunday in the final stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and moved up two notches to 4th on general classification.

After the closing 155km stage from Sisteron to Risoul Fuglsang described the ordeals of the day as cold, windy and generally miserable all day, but added that he felt extremely well-prepared and motivated coming out of a week of hard racing in France, including excursions in the Alps.

"I have come out of the Dauphiné without destroying myself, and my condition has been getting better and better every day. I think I'm on the perfect track now for a really good July at the Tour de France," Fuglsang said according to the Astana website.

Fuglsang crossed the high-mountain finish line on Sunday in the mist, 38 seconds behind stage winner Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale). Fuglsang started the day in 6th, but was able to pass two riders and nearly eclipsed a third, finishing 2’18” behind overall race winner Chris Froome (Sky).

"The pace was high all day, and in the last climb it was not a good idea to attack earlier than necessary. When Froome made his move I had to watch the other riders very closely, because there was such a little time difference between us. I saw that a Spanish rider was having problems and did my best to get ahead of him by a sufficiently big margin to overtake a few spots in the GC," Fuglsang said.

Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Dmitriy Sedoun said Fuglsang is well on his way to full preparation before the Tour de France starts on the final weekend this month and added that the team would remain in France for a few days in order to complete some recce tours ahead of La Grande Boucle.

"We will stay here in the region for the next few days to do a time trial reconnaissance for the Tour de France stage, and then fly to Tenerife to resume high-altitude training before July. Jakob is about 80-85 per cent ready now, but what is most important is that we are following the plan we set out at the beginning of the season and working step by step. He can add some more fitness in Tenerife, for certain, but when we look at the final GC here at the Dauphiné we are very pleased to see the company we keep," Sedoun said.