Stomach problems and crash frustrate Swift in the Tour de Suisse’s first half

The 25-year-old Team Sky star was hindered in his attempts to win stage four on Tuesday.

With the sprinter not at full strength, Sky’s strategy had to change mid-stage, and almost paid off with Luke Rowe just missing out on a top 10 finish.

Sports director Dan Hunt explained: “Things didn’t go to plan because Joe Dombrowski crashed hard again and Swifty was struggling with stomach problems.”

“The original plan had been to lead Swifty out for the sprint but halfway through the stage that changed so we decided to ride for Luke Rowe.”

“With Swifty and Joe unable to contribute, we didn’t have a full lead out but Mathew Hayman, Bernie Eisel and Gabba Rasch did a big job to guide Luke into contention and it was unfortunate he got swamped a bit in the melee which followed.”

The week got even worse for Swift on Wednesday in stage five, with an unfortunate crash.

Hunt said: “Swifty got caught in a crash around eight kilometres from the foot of the penultimate GPM (mountain section).”

“He got back on and finally made contact with the peloton just as they hit the hard final climb, so it was an untimely crash but at least he’s feeling healthy now, although still not 100 per cent.”

The rider is hoping to bounce back however in the latter stages of the Tour.

Swift added: “(I’m) hoping to turn it around later this week.”