Working for Bazayev in the opening stage

On an ascent 20km to go he was pushing hard at the front of the peloton in an effort to chase back the escapees. “Bazayev was our leader for today´s stage and he performed well as he arrived in the main bunch, which is great. I was working for him on that climb. My teammate Silin came home soon after him so from the team´s point of view, we pulled off a great job today,” Roman said.“As for myself, I just wanted to test my legs after the racing break and I felt quite all right. I eased off towards the end and followed my own rhythm to save some energy for the upcoming stages. It is still true that I´m taking this race as a tune-up for the Olympics but I´m also hoping to feel better with every stage under my belt and I might try my luck in the tough stages that are to come,” added Roman who finished in 102nd place.1st stage (180 km): 1. Moser (Ita/Liquigas) 4:32:43, 2. Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma-Quick Step), 3. Boom (Ned/Rabobank), 4. Wegmann (Ger/Garmin), 5. Malori (Ita/Lampre), … 102. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Astana) +3:51.