http://www.supersport.com/cycling/sa-cycling/news/160501/Good_results_for_Sbaragli_Kudus
Good results for Sbaragli,Merhawi Kudus
02 May 2016
Michael Albasini (Orica-Greenedge) won the final stage of the Tour de Romandie after winning the sprint ahead of his early breakaway companions, Andrey Amador (Movistar) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo). Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won the race overall.
It was a long and hard stage from Ollon to Geneve, made more difficult by a torrential downpour and strong winds throughout the day.
A break of 10 riders got away on the first climb of the day and some big names were part of the escape, including Albasini, Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) among others.
The Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka squad were looking to set up Kristian Sbaragli for the sprint and so the African Team took responsibility for the chase.
With no help from any other teams, the DiData riders kept the gap around 2'00" for the majority of the stage.
It was only with around 20km to go that a few other teams decided to lend a hand in the chase.
Unfortunately, it would be too little too late as Albasini, Amador and Kelderman just survived to take the podium positions respectively.
As the peloton came sprinting toward the line, Sbaragli proved to be one of the fastest as he took third from the bunch and sixth on the stage.
After doing some solid chase work throughout the stage, Merhawi Kudus would finish with the same time as the main group despite being caught up in a crash with 1km to go.
The Eritrean finished the race 17th overall and third in the young rider classification. A promising result as Kudus is set to start his first Giro d'Italia next week.
"I was focused on this stage and we did our best to try make it finish in a sprint. The team was amazing and I must say thanks to all of them. In the sprint we just couldn't catch the final three riders from the break. I did a good sprint and finished in the first third positions from the bunch but it wasn't a podium result," Sbaragli said.
"It was a good week for the team and for me. I did some good training in Eritrea at altitude before this race, preparing for the Giro. I am happy with the sensations I have going into my first Giro," Kudus added.
Received on Mon May 02 2016 - 05:58:27 EDT