In the finale of today's first mountaintop finish in the Tour de Suisse, Bauke Mollema and Roman Kreuziger fought hard to get back to Esteban Chaves. The Belkin captain regretted the lack of cooperation from his companion but admitted that the Colombian stage winner had been the strongest.

Bauke Mollema rode Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM's green and black colours to a third place in the Tour de Suisse today. His performance at the Verbier summit finish, 1474 metres, moved him up to fifth overall at 1:41 minutes. Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE) won the stage ahead of Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Mollema, and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) lost 17 seconds but maintained his overall lead.

"Chaves attacked in the last kilometres," Mollema said. "I reacted but had Roman Kreuziger in my wheel. In the last kilometre, he refused to ride and waited for the sprint. He sprinted ahead for second place but anyway I think Chaves was the strongest today."

Mollema made his move as the nine-day stage race climbed to the Swiss village in the country's south-west and helped reel in an early escape on the 10-kilometre ascent.

Only Chaves and Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) – second, also at three seconds back – fared better. Eros Capecchi (Movistar) placed in fourth at another 13 seconds back and Martin's group was distanced by 14 seconds. All in all, it was a good day since the Belkin team worked to perfection and the Dutchman jumped from 11th to fifth overall.

"It went well, the leaders stayed away for a long time but you could sense that there was a chance that it would come together," said Sports Director Nico Verhoeven. "And then you ride for victory. Stef Clement, Steven Kruijswijk and Laurens ten Dam closed the gap unfortunately the small Colombian was ahead." 

"As planned we managed to set the pace on the final climb," Mollema added. "Steven and Laurens worked hard to control the race. I'm happy with this third place. Tomorrow I have a chance again."
 

Mollema faces the race’s last day tomorrow and has an opportunity to move into third overall. The 156.5-kilometre stage climbs through the Saas Valley to reach Saas-Fee at 1807 metres. En route from Martigny, the stage covers three categorised climbs before the final 25-kilometre ramp.

If Mollema continues as he rode today, with the help of his team-mates, he could put the needed 36 seconds into World Champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) to take third overall in the WorldTour race. It would be a nice ending with only 13 days left until his season goal, the Tour de France. 

"Tomorrow it will be comparable to today, a harder stage with climbs, with a chance to better Bauke's GC and to win the stage," added Verhoeven. "With the Tour de France coming, the men are doing well!"