Kudus secures 5th overall and Best Young Rider at Route du Sud

The final stage of the Route du Sud saw Adriano Malori (Movistar) come away with the stage win after spending all day in the breakaway. Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) and Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale) were the 2 riders rounding out the podium on the stage. Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had Merhawi Kudus finish as our highest placed rider on the stage, crossing the line in 11th position.

The stage went up and down all day with 8 riders going clear in the break of the day. With no real threat in the breakaway Tinkoff Saxo just kept the leaders in check without wasting too much energy. With Movistar having Malori in the break there were no other teams really keen on taking responsibility for the chase early on. This played into the hands of the break and for Malori in specific as he would prove to be the strongest rider on the day.

In the overall classification, Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff Saxo) was easily able to hold on to the lead he built up for himself after yesterday’s queen stage to win the tour overall, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was 2nd and Michael Rogers (Tinkoff Saxo) rounded out the podium in 3rd place. Thanks to his position on today’s stage, Merhawi Kudus was able to hold on to his 5th place overall as well ride away with the best young rider competition.

Directeur Sportif – Michel Cornelisse

Merhawi got involved in the sprint today and ended 11th which was a good and a little funny to be honest because he is such a small climber. The team was really good today, It was really windy all day and Ignatas didn’t leave Merhawi’s side all day. Merhawi was able to keep his 5th on GC and overall i am happy with the teams work this week, they were good.

Stage Results