Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka finishes 9th in the final time trial at Tour de Suisse and makes his way into the overall top ten. Satisfied with his performance, Majka’s strong TT effort concludes a good week for Tinkoff-Saxo, where team captain Peter Sagan managed to grab two stage wins and the overall points classification.
 
After finishing 1’26” behind stage winner Tom Dumoulin on the 38.4km time trial, Rafal Majka notes that he is satisfied with the progression made in Tour de Suisse.

“For me, Tour de Suisse was about getting back into race mode, building speed in the legs and improving my shape before July, where I want to be in top shape. Overall I think I managed to do a good Tour de Suisse, making it into the top ten. My shape has improved and I now have some days of recovery and I expect that my condition will be at a higher level than before the race started”, says Rafal Majka before adding:

“I’m happy to have been a part of this squad, we’ve supported Peter and managed to win two stages and the points classification. We’ve spent a lot of time at the front taking responsibility and we’ve worked well together. Maybe I could have been a bit further up in the GC if I had achieved a better result on the queen stage but, for sure, I look forward to the challenges to come”. 

Peter Sagan netted two stage wins and several top finishes during the nine stages, which meant that he could finish comfortably in the lead of the points classification.

“Today’s final TT was on a very hard parcours with some technical sections and hilly parts. We weren’t the favorites for this stage but overall, Tour de Suisse has been a good race for the team and also for me. I’m happy with my two stage wins because they were a result of great teamwork. I’m proud of my teammates’ effort, they have supported me and we have aimed to create results whenever possible”, asserts Peter Sagan before elaborating overall outcome:

“Maybe I could have won one more stage but that’s cycling, it doesn’t always go the way you wish for on every single stage. However, this was my first race since Tour of California and I’m satisfied with the state of my condition and it’s important for the morale and the team to have momentum before the Tour. Anyway, I will now focus on recovery and I will do my best at the national championship, which is my next obstacle”.

After 9 stages of racing in Switzerland Simon Spilak (KAT) just edges ahead of runner up Geraint Thomas to take the overall win. Rafal Majka, en route to Tour de France, finishes 10th overall as best Tinkoff-Saxo rider in the GC. For Sean Yates, team sports director, the team fulfilled its ambitions.

“As we said before the start of Tour de Suisse, our aim was to grab as many stage wins as possible with Peter and to provide Rafal with a good opportunity to improve his shape. We fulfilled our ambitions and Peter took two impressive stage wins, where he showed his class and the team provided excellent support. On stage 4 and 7, we definitely came close with Peter, who finished second both times. On stage 4, he started his sprint a bit too early and on stage 7 he came really close after he had been blocked”, explains Sean Yates and finishes:

“Nevertheless, there will always be stages where it doesn’t pan out and stages where it does. We can be pleased with our result. I saw a team that worked together to achieve our goals and Peter finishes Tour de Suisse with the same momentum, as he had after Tour of California. We didn’t just wait for a stage win to fall into our lap but we took responsibility at the front and that takes a team effort. Breschel, Mørkøv, Bennati, Brutt, Trusov and Valgren can be pleased with their effort as Tour de Suisse is no easy race to control”.