Tinkoff-Saxo had big plans to win the Tour of Beijing with Alberto Contador but after the Spaniard was forced out of the race, the team was left with a roster of domestiques. After an anonymous showing in the Chinese race, they hope to improve in Sunday's Japan Cup.

Today, the 2014 World Tour finished with the fifth and final stage of Tour of Beijing. A front group duo flashed their jerseys throughout the stage but it all came down to frantic bunch sprint finish where Sacha Modolo took stage glory. Without sprinters in the line-up, Tinkoff-Saxo played a rather anonymous role.

Tinkoff-Saxo DS Philippe Mauduit states:

“It was a fairly typical final stage where everyone expected a bunch sprint finish and even though the two riders in front took the sprinter teams by surprise by accelerating in the finale, they were eventually reeled back in. With no sprinters in the line-up there wasn’t much to do for us. Now, we’re looking forward to taking on the two final races on the calendar. This weekend we’re off to Japan Cup and we’ll be supporting Rory (Sutherland) targeting the win."