Tinkoff-Saxo’s Robert Kiserlovski finished 12th on the tough stage 6 of Critérium du Dauphiné among the main contenders, who came in scattered after a day of attacks from afar. “I’m getting better day by day”, says Kiserlovski after the stage, which was won by Rui Costa.

Elaborating on the tiring stage in the wet, Robert Kiserlovski tells that he had intended to follow the move from the strong five-man group.

“When Nibali, Valverde, Gallopin, Costa and Martin attacked I followed but I was blocked by another rider, who unfortunately didn’t hold the wheel and created a gap. As it turned out, it was a winning move and I felt strong at that moment. However, I think it was a positive day for me personally, as I feel that I’m improving each day. And, as a team, we also had five guys in the yellow jersey group chasing the breakaway until the stage finale”, says Robert Kiserlovski, who adds that a number of riders might pay the price for the efforts made on today’s stage.

“It was a very hard stage today with attacks all the time. As everybody could see, it was very difficult to control the race, as the intensity was very high. I think we will see several of the GC riders paying the price on tomorrow’s stage, also with the weather conditions we had today”.

Stage 6 from Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur to Villard-de-Lans – Vercors consisted of 183 highly undulating kilometers with six categorized climbs and saw the leader’s jersey change hands, as Nibali took the lead. Rui Costa (LAM) took the win in the front group that had escaped far from the finish line.

 “We are fairly pleased with today’s result. We know that we aren’t the favorites here in Dauphiné, but the important factor is that the guys are improving. We saw that today, as we had Kiserlovski, Chris Anker, Beltran, Pires and Petrov all in the main group. They took responsibility and Kiserlovski seemed strong on the final part, where he finished just a few seconds behind Froome and Van Garderen”, comments team sports director Bruno Cenghialta and adds:

“It was a very fast stage with attacks from strong riders from the beginning of the stage. It was a solid group that ultimately got away and it proved difficult to make up time. However, Pires, Petrov, Beltran and Chris Anker did a good job, also working at the front, and we saw Kiserlovski attack on the final climb. Tomorrow is another tough stage and I hope that the guys can do another good job in the effort to bring Kiserlovski a bit further up in the GC”.