Roglic finishes fifth in fourth stage Tour of Valencia
Primoz Roglic has finished fifth in the fourth stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The stage ended on a steep climb, where the rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo showed himself in front. Because of his result in today's stage, he climbed to the sixth place in the general classification.
"It was a hard day", Roglic said after the race. "There was a lot of crosswind and in the final they raced really hard. The team did good work. The guys kept me out of the wind and put me in the right position." About 200 metres before the finish line, the Slovenian had to let go of Alejandro Valverde who went on to win the stage. "I gave it all during the last climb. I’m happy with my shape during my first race of the season."
Sports Director Grischa Niermann noticed his team has a good level. "It was today's plan to put Primoz and Neilson in a good position. We wanted to try to win. Primoz was strong today, but not strong enough."
Neilson Powless finished 22nd. "Everything he shows, is a bonus", Niermann said about the young American. "The way he rode his bike the last few days is promising. But we can't expect that he can go with the best every day. Today, he did what he could."
On Sunday, the 2018 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana ends. "We have a chance with Danny (van Poppel) again. We're aiming for the same result as he achieved on Wednesday”, Niermann alluded to Van Poppel’s stage win.