The crowd at Tour de Suisse witnessed the most intense match on the final classification of stage 4. Kristen Faulkner of team BikeExchange-Jayco and Lucinda Brand of Team Trek-Segafredo raced neck and neck on the wet, slippery roads.
As Lucinda took the lead and headed on towards the finish, Kristen lost control and crashed on the pavement. Unfortunately, she lost both, the stage win and the final win altogether.
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Alejandro Gonzales-Tablas, the manager of the team, commented on the unlucky events of the day. He expressed his support and remorse wholly when he said:
It was all up to the final climb, and Kristen had an awesome ride. She was able to catch Brand on the last kilometer, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to drop her, and unfortunately, she crashed on the final corner
Nevertheless, the team gave a positive response to how the events unfolded on the day. Instead of hooking up on the unfortunate happenings, they are looking forward to future events already:
But it was a good day, all positive, and a really strong performance by the team. We’re now looking forward to the next races
The 29-year-old won stage 2 while maintaining her lead in stage 3. At the beginning of stage 4, she sprinted and gained a lead of five seconds. Later on, Jolanda Neff and Brand sprinted on the final climb and gained momentum over the American. They attacked mercilessly and reached 2 seconds behind Faulkner.
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On the last climb, Brand pushed in front of Neff, but Faulkner brushed them off just near the final kilometer.
The winner of the stage was to get 10 seconds of bonus time, while the second runner-up would be allotted a total of six seconds. Unluckily, in the final sprint, Kristen slipped, losing her momentum, which gave Brand the opportunity to bag the win and take the victory. Faulkner finished second, 15 seconds after Brand.
Kristen Faulkner may have lost the race, but her performance was outstanding throughout the tour despite the unfortunate slip.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ Cycling Pro Net
