Tour de Suisse (st. 5)
Soler -5th overall- and his Movistar Team stay away from incidents in marathon stage five in Tour de Suisse, prelude to Thursday's second mountainous finish. Castroviejo DNF due to injury
Wednesday's marathon stage 5 in the Tour de Suisse -222km from Bex to Cevio- came down to a bunch sprint won by Peter Sagan (BOH). The day ended for most with a 40-minute advance over the medium average schedule proposed by the organisers – even more impressive considering the route profile included the HC Simplonpass climb and a twisty, narrow, lumpy finale.
Four of the Movistar Team riders in the race -Marc Soler, Víctor de la Parte, Carlos Betancur and Nelson Oliveira- were able to get through the ascent within the 90 riders that came through the line together. Avoiding any problems despite a drizzle falling over the late part of the course, the telephone squad kept Soler in 5th place overall, 32" behind Damiano Caruso (BMC). Víctor de la Parte also sits in a strong 13th.
The squad directed by José Luis Jaimerena will seek for the top of the Albulapass (HC) on Thursday, just 9km – and a fast, difficult descent – from the finish in La Punt (166km in total). The Blues are, though, down to just seven riders as Jonathan Castroviejo was a DNF today, suffering from his injuries at the crash on Sunday's stage two.
Picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport