I eased off on the final climb

“My job was to guard Vino to the foot of the last climb and I did just that. Then I followed my own rhythm. My legs were stiff because of the chill weather, plus I wasn’t feeling all right. We will see how it goes and I might try to figure something out in the coming stages,” said Roman who crossed the finish line 5 minutes behind the winner.He was happy that Vinokurov proved to be in good shape and he is currently sitting in 5th place overall. “He was in excellent shape at the Liege where he was out of luck. Things are looking good for him so far and I think it could work out.”The Astana team is in a rather difficult situation because they have to continue in the race with six riders. This morning Kiserlovski, who had a nasty crash at the Paris-Nice, abandoned the race. He returned to racing at the Giro de Trentino but after the opening prologue of the Tour de Romandie he didn’t start the first stage. ”After discovering that his vertebra is cracked he was advised to come back home. In the course of four days we will find out whether he will ride the Giro or not,” Roman revealed. “On the top of that, Maxim Iglinskij, who hit the ground on Tuesday, wrapped it up, tool. It won´t be easy without them but we have to keep on fighting.”1st stage (172.6 km): 1st Pavel Brutt (Rus/Katusha) 4:27:41, 2nd Oleksandr Kvacuj (Ukr/Lampre) +56, 3rd Branislav Samojlav (Bel/Movistar) +1:14, 4th Jack Bobridge (Aus/Garmin) +1:23, 5th Damiano Cunego (Ita/Lampre) +1:59 … 79th Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Astana) +5:31.Overall: 1st Brutt 4:31:26, 2nd Kvacuk +1:00, 3rd Samojlav +1:22, 4th Bobridge -1:31, 5th Alexandr Vinokurov (Kaz/Astana) +2:04, … 82nd Roman Kreuziger +5:37.