Majka and Roman Kreuziger moved up several spots in GC after today’s time trial, both making it into the top 20. The squad now sets its sight on Sunday’s grueling stage with the aim to win.
After three stages ruled by sprinters, the fourth day of the Spanish race saw a demanding individual time-trial of 21 km, in Alhaurin de la Torre. With a slightly uphill finish, the race was dominated by time-trial specialists. Rafal Majka and Roman Kreuziger finished respectively 21st and 23rd, moving in the GC to 19th and 20th.
“Majka and Kreuziger are still a bit behind in their-time trial preparation as at present we focused more on the preparation for the mountain stages,” stated Sport Director Bruno Cenghialta. “We will now work even harder on time trials, but this shouldn’t sound like an excuse. They both have a good physical condition, but it’s not perfect yet for this kind of trial.”
Trusov
Shortly after the end of the time trial Rafal Majka, one of Tinkoff’s two co-leaders at the race, commented, “This was the first time-trial of the year and I think it wasn’t that bad, but we didn’t do too well either. We will nowl focus on tomorrow’s stage where we will try to do our best although it will not be easy as we are at the beginning of the season and there are many riders who are already riding strong and fast. Our goals this season are still to be achieved, but nonetheless we are glad we have already won two stages, and then we’ll see about tomorrow.”
The race will close tomorrow with the fifth stage that features five categorized climbs and a summit finish atop the Alto Peñas Blancas after a 16km climb with an 6% average incline. Without any previous, tough intermediate climbs that could create big gaps, a group of 8-10 riders could still come together at the finish.
“As for tomorrow’s stage, we still have to decide what our race tactics will be. We also need to see first how the other teams ended this time trial and how they’re going to move tomorrow. However, we definitely aim at winning the stage”, concluded Cenghialta.
