Tinkoff-Saxo suffered a significant setback in the team’s GC ambitions, as Rafal Majka lost time on stage 4 to the climb of Croix de Chaubouret. The team leader had to change bikes two times at the worst time possible, as the speeding peloton raced closer to the final 10km climb.

However, sport director Lars Michaelsen notes that the race is not over until it reaches its final destination. After the finish, Tinkoff-Saxo’s sports director Lars Michaelsen was obviously not pleased with the final outcome of the stage.

“It’s unfortunate, and you can say that our goal for the general classification was lost today. The guys fought bravely and Chris Anker Sørensen did a very strong and loyal job in the breakaway in an effort to set up our strategy for the final”, comments Lars Michaelsen to the Tinkoff-Saxo website.

After realizing on the last climb that he would loss to much time to be competitive in the GC, Rafal Majka decreased the intensity and lost 12 minutes on the stage that was ultimately won by Richie Porte. The result effectively ends his ambitions in the general classification, however Majka notes that Paris-Nice is not finished yet.

“Today was not a good day for me, since I came here for the GC. My puncture happened at a very bad moment. After the second bike change I tried to get back into the front group again but I burnt a lot of energy in trying to do so, and I was also not at my best today. My teammates helped me a lot and we went full gas to close the gap, but the guys in the front group did the same. Now, we’ll take it day by day realizing that not all days are good and focus on our next goals”, stated Rafal Majka.

Lars Michaelsen sheds light on the situation around Rafal Majka’s double bike change.

“Rafal had a puncture on one of the descents towards the finishing section up to Croix de Chaubouret. He was then given Paulinho’s bike, which, naturally, didn’t suit him well. When he made contact to the rear-end of the front group he then had to stop again to get his own spare bike, which meant that he lost contact once more”, says Lars Michaelsen and adds:

“Rafal fought together with his teammates to close the gaps, but it happened at a very bad moment, when the front group was going at a very high pace. On the final climb, he had burnt too much energy and didn’t have the legs. Today, he was also not at his best, as he wouldn’t have lost time or at least less time”.

Despite the setback, Lars Michaelsen underlines that Paris-Nice is not over before the race reaches the top of Col d’Èze on the finishing time trial.

“The race goes on and there’s only one thing to do and that’s to keep pedaling and to seize the opportunities we get. Rafal came here in good shape, so he’s of course not satisfied, but he’ll soon start to look ahead. We continue to race as a team and to support each other fully”, concludes the Tinkoff-Saxo DS.

Michael Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quickstep) still leads the race with 1 second to Riche Porte (Team Sky). Best placed Tinkoff-Saxo rider is Robert Kiserlovski, who sits 30th in the GC.