It was a brilliant final day at Tour de Romandie for Team Bahrain Victorious, which wrapped up the week in Switzerland with a podium in two stages and a GC one.

Following Damiano Caruso’s 3rd place in the queen stage, today was Nikias Arndt to shine on the finish of stage 5 in Genève. The German sprinter battled for victory in the bunch sprint won by Gaviria (Movistar):

“I really wanted to win today, but at least I tried. I think, as a team, we actually deserved more. I felt super good, and I was fully committed. I told my teammates, already halfway, ‘guys, today is our day. We win. In the end it is second place. I think the team did great. We were really committed, I’m happy with how the team worked. I didn’t know that the corner was so hard and we came at such a high speed. I wished I could bring home the victory.”

A sprinters day was expected on the paper, but the 170.8km course from Vufflens-la-Ville to Genève was run at a high pace, and some sprinters dropped in the most undulating part of the route. No chance to attack for shaking the GC, but the team rode very attentively to protect the leader Damiano Caruso and defend his 3rd place overall.

At the end of the day, the Italian rider maintained his GC position behind the winner Yates (UAE) and Jorgenson (MOV).

“It was a good week for the team and me especially.” The Italian rider comments, “My goal for this week was to find good sensations and I got them. Moreover, I took a good result. A third place in GC at the Tour de Romandie means a lot. Also, it comes less than a week before the Giro’s start. This gives me lots of confidence. Now I will have a few days of rest to recover physical and mental energy, and then I will face the Giro in the best conditions.”

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