Pérez: "I'm a little angry"

They say there's no podium placings in cycling; either you win or you don't. Feel free to disagree, but at the end of the day coming second counts for little at this level. As such it was no big surprise to hear Rubén Pérez feeling a wee bit aggrieved to come up short on today's fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse.

"A chance to win a bike race doesn't come along too often, and in a race like the Tour de Suisse it's even more rare", he told www.fundacioneuskadi.com. "That's way I feel a big of anger inside me."

Yet he was also somewhat content to know he'd done his utmost.

"I think I played my cards right, though, and in that sense I'm calm and satisfied to have fought all the way 'till the end. Isaychev was the strongest, so I can only congratulate him", he added diplomatically.

Looking towards the Tour de France, a race in which he's always put his name out there, the likeable all-rounder sounded optimistic.

"After a start to the season where I was hampered by allergies, being in contention for a win in a race as  prestigious as the Tour de Suisse is encouraging. In the first months of the year I wasn't able to perform to my capabilities and my confidence suffered. Fortunately I started to feel better in the Bayern Rundfahrt, and here in Switzerland I'm starting to ride the way I like. I was in the break yesterday, today... It boosts my morale for the Tour de France."

It's a fact: Rubén Pérez has started eight Grand Tours in his career - and finished them all.