Cervélo happy despite missing out

Cervélo TestTeam were happy with the way stage four unfolded, despite narrowly missing out on a placing in the final sprint. Norway's Thor Hushovd was again present in the sprint finish, taking fourth place a day after his first stage victory of 2009.

The squad managed to get Serge Pauwels in the day's breakaway, along with Jason McCartney (Saxo Bank), Tyler Hamilton and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing). The efforts of Pauwels and Hushovd please sport director Alex Sans Vega.

"For us the ride went just as we wanted it today," said Sans Vega. "Serge was out there and that allowed the rest of the team to take it a little easier, he did a superb job.

"If the road had more curves the breakaway might have held to the end, but the combination of the wind and the straight roads made it easier for the peloton to finally pull them in," he added. "That gave us another option of putting Thor in place as we did yesterday."

It wasn't all bad news for Cervélo TestTeam on Wednesday. German Heinrich Haussler secured his first victory of 2009 at the Vuelta a Algarve's opening stage in Portugal.