Yesterday’s stage at the Volta a Catalunya was marred by a crash towards the end of the stage. Nicolas Roche of Team Saxo-Tinkoff had a narrow escape as sports director Dan Frost informed.

“We’ve come to this race without sprinters so our primary task was to stick to the front of the peloton and stay clear of trouble. Fortunately Nicolas was able to avoid the crash in the finale even though it was a close call. He managed to cross the finish line without any incidents, just like the rest of our team.”

Looking forward to the testing stage on Wednesday, Frost outlined the team’s strategy, “Wednesday is a big day for the GC riders since the summit finish is at 2,200 metres altitude. Our aim is to save our strength throughout the day and then to go for broke on the final climb and see how far that takes us.”