This week Roman Kreuziger is aiming at repeating his 2008 victory in the Tour de Suisse and so far things are looking good for the strong Czech. Today he finished 10th in the first uphill finish of the race to keep his GC options open.

Another mountainous ride was due during today’s 203 kilometer long third stage of Tour de Suisse from Sarnen to Heiden in the central part of Switzerland where an uphill finish concluded the stage.

Two riders, Martin Kohler (BMC) and Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin) formed a breakaway duo after 20 kilometers of racing but they were brought back already 60 kilometers to go. That motivated several riders to counter and new groups were established in front of the pack while Omega-Pharma Quick Step confidently picked up the pace in the bunch.

But it was a complete pack hitting the foot of the climb and Peter Sagan (Canondale) was absolutely superb in the sprint in the select group including Tinkoff-Saxo’s Roman Kreuziger who finished 10th.

“The race is still so open and the time gaps between the riders in the top of the GC are still so small that everyone wants to take responsibility of dragging the escapees back in," sports director Fabrizio Guidi said. "When we entered the ramp to the finish line, it was everybody’s race and apparently it was a treat for Sagan. We have riders here with different abilities so we’re hoping for an opportunity to make a good results in the coming days."

Tony Martin still leads overall with 6 seconds.