In the early part of the season, Andy Schleck has been dropped early on the climbs but in the Tour de Suisse he is showing signs on improvement. Today he finished with the peloton in the hard sixth stage on a day that was all about saving energy for his Trek team.

The 192.8-kilometer stage six was far more arduous than the previous two days, scaling the peloton of many legs, including most of the pure sprinters.  The four-man breakaway, which escaped in the early part of the race, was brought back with 37 kilometers to go as Team Sky set a blistering pace up the category two penultimate climb. The high, unrelenting speed continued in the closing kilometers, nullifying any attacks quickly, including a dig by Laurent Didier.  

“It was difficult to try and get away, but it was better for Laurent to try and not wait the sprint," sports director Kim Andersen said. "Maybe he could have saved some and tried again on the flat, but at the moment the head wanted it more than the legs. At least he was there, he tried - it was a good attitude.  But with Sky and Sagan, it was impossible.”

Over the final category climb the stiff pace continued to snuff out any attempts; only a spunky Peter Sagan was able to stick a gap with a vicious surge over the top. He continued his antics on the descent, but by the finish the peloton was together, led home by the yellow jersey of Tony Martin (Omega Pharma QuickStep). The World TT Champion provided a blistering final lead out, and congealed the win for teammate Matteo Trentin. On a stage that favored Peter Sagan, with most of the pure sprinters out of the picture, he faded to finish in 5th place.

“We had hoped to be in a breakaway, but straightaway we saw that the teams pulled, and for sure the breakaway had no chance to go to the end," Andersen said. " I don’t know why Sky pulled like they did, but that was their tactic. And what Sagan did was good for the race, and exciting to watch, but he burned himself a little bit for the end. 

“For us there was not much to do but wait and do the best we could on the climbs. We had Laurent and Andy in the front group but there were still 60-70 riders and I don’t expect them to win a sprint like this."

For Trek Factory Racing it became a day to finish safely and save energy for the final three crucial days, which kicks off with a time trial tomorrow. It is the same course where Fabian Cancellara crashed in training two weeks prior, and he will be aiming to make amends. The final two stages conclude with hors catégorie climbs, and it will be here the race will be won, and even more so, lost.