"Finishing fifth after such a tough day gives confidence" - Under the radar Stefan Küng thrives in Glasgow's brutal race to finish fifth

Perhaps "best of the rest". Stefan Küng did not make it into the winning move of four riders at the Glasgow World Championships, but was fifth on the road immediately after the four riders who battled for victory in the hilly circuit.

“It was a very tough course, very grueling. After two or three local laps there were no more than thirty or forty riders left in the peloton," Küng said in an interview shared by Groupama-FDJ. "Unfortunately, the decisive gap opened for me due to a crash. I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks with the rain. I felt better and better as we went on the miles. On a course like this, you have to fight to the end to achieve the best possible result.”

Küng was part of the chasing group as other riders, mostly Belgian, kept the chase going slightly. The likes of Alberto Bettiol, Neilson Powless, Mauro Schmid and Toms Skujins went on the attack later in the race however all have either completely cracked in the finale or were reeled in by this group that still had some firepower. Some of it in Küng, who did attack earlier in the race but was mostly under the radar and saving himself as other teams battled with each other. He handled himself into the finale and then was the fastest sprinter out of the first chasing group.

"Finishing fifth after such a tough day gives confidence," the Swiss rider said, four years after finishing third in a similar race in Yorkshire. Now he focuses on the time-trial. "It shows that the shape is good. I went into this World Championship on the road as relaxed as possible to only build up the pressure towards Friday's time trial. I will now concentrate on my recovery to finish that time trial in the best possible shape.”