Alexandr Kolobnev was close to taking his just second win as a professional in yesterday's sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse. Having joined the right 4-man breakaway, the Russian had to see Gregory Rast (Radioshack) slip clear with 1km to go but the Russian vows to continue his aggressive racing in the remaining part of the race.

Alexandr Kolobnev is a highly decorated cyclist with two podium finishes at the world championships, an Olympic bronze medal and a second place in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege on his palmares but surprisingly the Russian has only taken one victory during his long career. Looking to changes his many near-misses to a win, the Katusha rider attacked in yesterday's sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse that had all the characteristics of one suited to a breakaway.

Joined by Bert Grabsch, Mathew Hayman and Gregory Rast, Kolobnev built up a gap of more than 14 minutes over the peloton and it was always clear that they would decide the winner amongst them. The superior climber among the four, the Russian could have attacked on the final ascents but chose to stay with his companions until the final 4km of the race.

Grabsch was the first to attack but he was closed down whenever he tried his hand, Kolobnev being one of the riders to keep the German under control. When Rast countered a move as they passed the flamme rouge, the Russian did, however, refuse to bring Hayman - the fastest finisher in the group - back to the Swiss and so Rast rode away with the win.

In the end Kolobnev had to settle for 3rd as he was beaten by Hayman in the sprint behind the lone Rast.

“Today I had really good feelings," he said. "All the work that has been done in the last months and all the changes I did in my preparation, now transform into power and strong condition. Today the team was perfect from the beginning, firstly Eduard Vorganov went in an escape, then Vladimir Gusev helped me a lot to go in the breakaway… I did all I could in the stage – the final of the stage did not suit me well and I could not find any good climb for attack in the last part. So, I tried to do my best but finally, I could only fight for second place. I would have gotten it, but the Sky rider (Hayman, ed.) did a really incorrect sprint."

Known for his aggressive nature, the Russian wants to exploit his good feelings in the two remaining road stages of the race.

"So, I missed the victory, but I will try in the next days, because my shape is really great and the team morale after yesterday success of Alexander Kristoff is very high," he said.

Kolobnev will get his first opportunity in today's queen stage which takes the riders over the mighty Albulapass. Starting at 16.55, you can follow the stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.