Matt Goss crashed out of contention of the stage five Tour de Suisse sprint finish. The Tasmanian toppled to the ground when he was hit from behind by another rider who was attempting to squeeze through a non-existent space near the barrier. A chain reaction ensued with Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) the most notable name amongst the other fallers. Four hundred metres from the line, much of the peloton was caught up behind the riders on the ground.

A three rider break dominated the early action. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step played pace-makers for race leader Tony Martin, and Katusha and Giant-Shimano did the last bit of work to shut down the move in the closing kilometres. With a technical final kilometre including two tight turns, the fight for position was even more spirited than usual.

Sacha Molodo (Lampre-Merida) won the crash-marred sprint ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano). Nino Schurter sprinted in for ninth place, posting his second top ten result this week.

“I came into the last corner fast, but I made it through okay. I hadn’t lost my front wheel or anything like that. Another rider came out of the corner even faster behind him. He tried to squeeze between me and the barrier, but I was practically alongside of the barrier. There wasn’t any space for him. He hit me from behind, and I went flying.” - Matt Goss

“With the left-hand turn at 350 metres, we knew it would be dangerous. Gossy overcooked it slightly in the last corner, but he managed to stay up. Then, someone crashed into him, and that was it. Gossy did what he to do to be in the right position for the sprint. It’s a bit disappointing that we didn’t get to see if our different approach would lead to a different result, but crashes are a part of sprinting.” - Sport Director Neil Stephens