Tinkoff-Saxo’s GC captain Robert Kiserlovski finished 16th on the first mountain stage of Critérium du Dauphiné to Pra Loup, 1’35” down on stage winner Romain Bardet. “There’s room for further improvements”, asserts DS Patxi Vila pointing to the last three mountain stages.
 
The riders of Critérium du Dauphiné hit the mountains on Thursday’s stage 5 to Pra Loup, where Tinkoff-Saxo’s Robert Kiserlovski finished 16th after Romain Bardet (AGR), who had attacked solo on the descent from Col d’Allos. After the stage, team sports director Patxi Vila comments:
 
"It was the first tough mountain stage with 3,400 meters of climbing and some serious mountain passes. Our goal was to save Kiserlovski and Poljanski for the GC. There was a breakaway on the climb from Bardet and we decided to follow the favorites, such as Froome, Valverde and Nibali. Kiserlovski was in good shape but not at the level we would have expected. We retain our overall goal, which is a top-ten position in the GC for Kiserlovski”, says Vila.
 
Stage 5 consisted of 161km from Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup with five categorized climbs along the way. Bardet’s attack just before the descent from Col d’Allos netted him the win by a 36 second margin, while the favorites behind were splintered due to a frantic pace on the final climb to Pra Loup. Patxi Vila adds that Kiserlovski will likely improve during the final mountain stages.
 
“It was his first mountain stage and we think he will make progress. He felt in good form but he commented that he would have more potential in the following days. In what regards Poljanski, he performed the way we had expected and finished 25th. We still have three difficult stages ahead and we will fight for our goal. We know we aren't the favorites here and we have to face strong competition”, concludes Patxi Vila.