Heinrich Haussler had hoped to be in the mix in today's first sprint of the Tour de Suisse but a poor position saw him finish in the middle of the peloton. His teammate Mathias Frank had a pleasant day as his wife gave birth to a daughter.
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) did not miss one of the few chances in this Tour of Switzerland that was suited to the sprinters. In Ossingen, hometown of the great Swiss cyclist Ferdy Kubler, Cavendish proved his superiority in a drag-race sprint, taking the stage while his teammate Tony Martin retained his lead in the overall classification.
IAM Cycling had its own day of great successes with Mathias Frank still holding the lead in the Best Swiss rider classification, but more importantly with the new addition to the Frank and IAM Cycling family as a result of the Monday morning birth of Frank’s baby girl, Laura.
After the stage, Frank, who is the GC leader for IAM Cycling, declared himself happy with the way the 4th stage unfolded.
“The start of the stage was pretty nervous, and it was windy throughout. But I stayed out of trouble and had a good day. I hope that we will keep the status quo for the next two stages. This will help me recover, particularly after the emotional roller-coaster I’ve been through the first few days here.”
Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif alongside Marcello Albasini, regretted that one of his riders was not up front battling for the stage win.
“With the exception of a big pile-up, everything went pretty much according to plan today with the sprinters’ teams controlling the breakaway. We had hoped that Heinrich Haussler would be able to be positioned well enough for the stage win, but his place was not as good as expected. That’s a shame, of course, but it also allows us to make adjustments for the next sprint.”
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