Salvatore Puccio sprinted to third place on stage five of the Tour de Suisse after his breakaway group stayed clear.
Italian takes third on stage after breakaway goes clear
Salvatore Puccio sprinted to third place on stage five of the Tour de Suisse after his breakaway group was allowed to stay clear to the finish.
The first-year professional worked well with his more experienced fellow escapees before securing a top-three spot in Gansingen.
Puccio was on the wrong side of a split in the six-man group during the closing stages but things came back together inside the final kilometre, where Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha) took the victory.
The remaining seven Team Sky riders came home safely in the peloton over 11 minutes back, with Thomas Löfkvist maintaining his sixth place overall.
The day's crucial move came early in the stage as Puccio, Isaychev, Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale), Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing), Sebastien Minard (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank) formed a seven-man breakaway.
Puccio was the best placed on general classification but his deficit of over 13 minutes meant that the peloton was willing to let the break survive until the finish.
As it became clear that the group would not be caught, Lodewyck launched the first attack but was soon reeled in and then dropped on a short climb near the finish.
Perez then tried his luck on the descent but had no success either as he was easily caught with just under 10km to go.
Some more tentative attacks temporarily drew the group out but it again came back together at the 5km to go point, where the tactical games started in earnest.
In the end it was Minard, Oss and Perez who attempted to get the jump on the other three but there was still time for another regrouping which allowed Isaychev to sprint to the win ahead of Perez and Puccio.
Learning process
Afterwards Sports Director Marcus Ljungqvist was full of praise for Puccio's display, saying: "It was another good team effort; they worked really hard again at the beginning to stay on top of any dangerous attacks and then the group went with Puccio in it.
"It took a while but then it became obvious that no team was even going to try to get it back. Movistar controlled it to make sure the gap didn't go too far but it was a much easier day for the guys in the peloton.
"There were some tired legs at the end but I think Puccio did really well; he kept a cool head and used his strength wisely.
"Every time you are in the final like that you will learn something - you need to be there as often as posible to get the experience and what he did today was really good."
Thursday's sixth stage is mostly flat as it covers 199km from Wittnau to Bischofszell and Ljungqvist added: "Tomorrow looks the last chance for the sprinters' teams.
"We're looking forward to it and the rest of the race; the spirit remains high and the good news is that the weather is forecast to improve from now on too!"
