The last stage of the Criterium du Dauphine was the last test in the mountains. The route was not too long, less than 160 kilometers and the climbs were all concentrated in the latter part of the stage, with the climbs of the Col de Vars and the climb to the sky resort of Risoul. The last climb is a proper climb, with 14 kilometers averaging 6.6%. Tony Martin still held a significant gap against his rivals for the win in the GC, like Robert Gesink and Chris Froome. However, he was expected to lose time as he did in Valmorel.
There was quite a big fight at the start of the stage to get into the break of the day but Lotto did not want to allow a big group to go away. By the time they reached the Cote de la Breole a group of 5 had established themselves at the front of the race. The members of the group were Ben Hermans (Katusha), Damiano Caruso (Cannondale), Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel), Maxime Monfort (Etixx) and Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff). They had a 2 minutes gap at the top of the climb. Monfort took the KoM points to consolidate his lead in the classification.
The terrain was quite easy until the intermediate sprint in Jauriers, with 58 kilometers to go. At the sprint, only Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) and Ruben Plaza (BMC) fought for the points and it was the Belgian who won the sprint. Lampre had been starting to chase sporadically not to let the gap go too far and therefore, the distance for the break had only grown to 4' 40''. The climbers might need the bonus seconds in the finish line and Chris Froome (Lampre) was clearly thinking that the gaps at the end of the race could be small.
As soon as the climb to the Col de Vars started Emanuele Sella (Movistar) decided to attack and try to make contact with the early break. The Italian rider was not dangerous in the GC so Lotto had not increased the pace. George Hincapie (Lotto) was the one setting the pace so the speed could not be very high in a tough climb like Vars. With 4 kilometers to the top of the climb Sella had 50 seconds over the bunch but was still 4 minutes behind the early break. The riders in the break were holding on to the gap quite well in this first climb but it did not look like they would have an easy time to maintain it in Risoul.
A group of 4 riders jumped from the bunch to chase Emanuele Sella. They were solid climbers, like Johann Tschopp (BMC), Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek), Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery) and Andrew Talansky (HTC). All of them were quite far in the GC but that triggered an increase in the pace of the main group as other riders lower in the standings had to defend their positions. Rein Taaramae (Katusha) had also jumped from the group of the leader and trying to connect with that group. Meanwhile, at the front of the race Ben Hermans took the KoM points and was going to be the winner of the classification.
The descent was quite uneventful but as soon as the road started pointing up again Maxime Monfort attacked in the break and took Rinaldo Nocentini with him. They were followed by the rest of the break plus Emanuele Sella, who had managed to bridge the gap. Around 1 minute behind the lead of the race was the group of 4 riders that jumped from the bunch. Rein Taaramae had not managed to get to that group yet. The main bunch was 2' 25'' behind led by Romain Bardet (IAM) and Jerome Coppel (Etixx). The group only had 70 riders as many had been dropped in the climb to the Col de Vars.
The peace in the bunch did not last long as Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) attacked almost from the bottom of the climb to Risoul. The American team probably had Robert Kiserlovski ahead to help Peraud in this attack. The French already won the Dauphine last year and he wants to repeat. With 9 kilometers to go he had a gap of 30 seconds over the bunch and was getting close to the group ahead. Meanwhile, Romain Bardet and Chris Horner (HTC) were leading the bunch and Tony Martin seemed to have no problems in following the pace. There were many riders still holding on to the group of favorites.
The group of the favorites was led by Michele Scarponi (Astana), Frank Schleck (Etixx) and Rui Costa (Ag2r) so the pace had picked up considerably but there were still around 50 riders in that group. Andrew Talansky attacked in the group that was ahead and was leading the race with 6 kilometers to go. He had 15 seconds over Maxime Monfort; 40 seconds on Robert Kiserlovski; 55 on a group including Jean-Christophe Peraud and Simon Spilak (Tinkoff) and 1' 15'' on the group of the leader. The distances were very small but they still had to ride the hardest part of the climb.
The crucial attacks happened with around 5 kilometers to go. Frank Schleck was the only rider that managed to open a gap. He joined forces with Jean-Christophe Peraud when he caught the front group and both caught Andrew Talansky and Robert Kiserlovski with 3 kilometers to go. Crucially, Discovery had two riders in that group and Kiserlovski could work for Peraud. They had 1 minute over the group of the leader but that gap was not enough for them to win the Dauphine so they had to push on. The situation int he group was not peaceful either as Johann Tschopp and David Lopez (Euskaltel) were trying to attack. Among those left behind we could see Jelle Vanendert, Marco Pinotti (Sky) and Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel).
Robert Kiserlovski rode with Jean-Christophe Peraud until the last kilometer but once they reached the final sprint the Croatian decided to fight Frank Schleck for the stage win. Peraud lost contact with them and was trailing 8 seconds behind with 700 meters to go. David Lopez, Chris Froome and Robert Gesink (Ag2r) were pushing hard in the chasing group, which had cut the gap to only 19 seconds. Crucially, the group had started to break down with about 2 kilometers to go and Tony Martin was losing many places. He was very close to winning the Dauphine but it was not sure at all.
Robert Kiserlovski wins in Risoul! It was a very much needed win for Discovery Channel but one that will be quite polemic. Kiserlovski should was working for Jean-Christophe Peraud and left him behind in the last kilometer to fight for the stage. It is the first win for the team in the 2017 season, leaving BMC as the only team to win in the World Tour. The last kilometer had its bit of drama as Frank Schleck crossed the finish line 18 seconds behind Kiserlovski. David Lopez and Chris Froome got to the Etixx rider and took the 3rd and 4th places. Meanwhile, Peraud was 5th 27 seconds behind his teammate.
We had to wait a full 1' 40'' for Tony Martin to cross the finish line in a group that also contained riders like Mikel Nieve (Katusha) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek). However, it was not enough for the German as he fell to the 4th place overall. Chris Froome took the overall win as Robert Gesink could not follow him and ended up losing the race by 13 seconds. Frank Schleck completed the podium, 25 seconds behind, while Tony Martin was out of the podium with the same time. It was an epic finish to a very good week of racing in France. The route was clearly well balanced between time trialists and climbers and a rider that can manage both finally came on top.
The Tour de Suisse is the last stage race before the Tour de France and, like the Criterium du Dauphine, it is used by some of the favorites for the Tour to prepare for the race. However, it is also a race important enough to be a target for many strong riders in the World Tour. The route is normally a mix of high mountains with one or two time trials along the way. This season the stages will be a repetition of what we saw last year and where the local Mathias Frank took the win. It will be interesting to see whether the long time trial in Gossau is the key stage of the race, like it has been lately in the stage races. However, the riders will have plenty of mountains to face in the stages finishing in Verbier, Arosa and Sorenberg.
It was the first time that a Swiss won the race in 2016 but even though Mathias Frank will be at the start of the race he has stated that he does not think he is in shape to defend the title. He is instead focusing on the Tour de France. On the other hand, Frank Schleck did very well in the Daupine and will be looking forward to add a 3rd title to his tally. Chris Froome and David Lopez won the other two editions of the race, although the British has skipped the race this year.
Favorites:
- Cadel Evans (Lotto - Soudal): Cadel Evans chose to skip the Criterium du Dauphine and race in the Tour de Suisse to prepare for the Tour de France. The Australian has been up to the level that is expected from him only in the Tirreno - Adriatico so far this year so he has a lot to improve yet. Nevertheless, he took the 2nd place in Italy, which is a very solid result. The Tour de Suisse should have all the ingredients that he needs to do a good race, including the demanding time trial in Gossau, where he should put time on the climbers.
- Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep): Schleck comes from putting a very good show in the Criterium du Dauphine and should be peaking for the Tour de Suisse as he will not be racing in the Tour de France this year. If he is as strong in the mountains as he was in the French race he will be a very strong candidate for the win as he could almost recover the time he lost in the time trial in the Dauphine. In the end, he could only be 3rd in the podium but many of the strongest rivals he had will not be in Switzerland. With many riders skipping the race to focus on the Tour it would be a disappointment not to be in the podium.
- Michele Scarponi (Astana Pro Team): Scarponi has had some moments to shine in 2017, his first season with the Astana team, mainly the stage he won at the top of the Monte San Vicino in the Tirreno - Adriatico. However, he has never been able to maintain a good performance during a whole week for one reason or another, although in the Tirreno it was the team time trial that hurt him. For Scarponi this is also his target for this part of the season as he will also skip the Tour de France and will be racing the Vuelta later in the year.
- Levi Leipheimer (Trek - Segafredo): Leipheimer has been shadowed by his teammate Tejay van Garderen in the stage races so far this season but this does not mean that the American cannot fight for a podium. Nevertheless, he has been underwhelming in the last few seasons whenever he had a chance of a good result. His only previous podium in a stage race came in the 2015 Tour de Romandie, where only Bauke Mollema was stronger than him. As with many of the other favorites, Leipheimer will also skip the Tour de France so he can give his all in the Swiss race.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal), Juanjo Cobo (HTC - Highroad), David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery Channel), Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale - Drapac) and Mikel Nieve (Team Katusha).
Among the sprinters we can find Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep), Mark Renshaw (BMC Racing Team), Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL - Jumbo), Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team) and Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi).
The Tour de Suisse will start with 7 kilometers prologue that will serve to open the GC a little bit from the start of the race. The gaps might be a bit bigger than what a typical prologue would do as the riders will have to face the tough climb to the Monte Bre. The climb is hard enough that the favorites for the stage are more the hills riders and the GC favorites than the time trialists. Nevertheless, the gaps between those riders that are fighting for the overall classification should not be bigger than around 15 seconds.
Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) started very early in the day, when only a handful of riders had hit the road. Nevertheless, Mikel Nieve (Katusha) had already set a reference time that seemed quite good. Nevertheless, Vanendert managed to improve on the time set by the Spaniard and was 3 seconds faster at the finish line. It is a good performance for the Belgian, who has not had a good stage race so far this season. One of the key features of today's stage might be the wind as it was blowing really hard and interfering quite a bit with the racing of the riders.
David Lopez (Euskaltel) was also among the favorites to take the stage win, even though he is not that good in flat time trials normally. The Spaniard won the Vuelta al Pais Vasco earlier this year but has been underwhelming in other stage races. However, his performance today was very good and he took the 2nd provisional place behind Jelle Vanendert. He lost the first place by only 1 second but that will put him in a good position to try to grab the leader's jersey in Verbier tomorrow. It was already clear that the stage was one for the climbers today.
Another of the climbers that is racing the Tour de Suisse is Michele Scarponi (Astana). The Italian had his best day of the season at the Monte San Vicino, where he got the win. However, the time trials in the Tirreno - Adriatico meant that he could only be 5th overall. Nevertheless, his season so far has been quite solid and above what the team expected from him. However, his time trial today was not that good and he ended up with the 17th best time, 20 seconds behind Jelle Vanendert. It was not a big loss but if he loses this kind of time in this time trial he could lose a lot more in Gossau.
Frank Schleck (Etixx) comes to Switzerland after being the best climber in the Criterium du Dauphine but only getting a 3rd place in the GC. However, if he can maintain his form the route in the Tour de Suisse is more favorable to him. He started the race by clocking a really good time in the prologue. He took the 3rd provisional place, only 2 seconds behind Jelle Vanendert. He lost a bit of time in the descent and the short flat before the finish line because he had taken the best time at the top of the hill. This performance makes clear that the intention of Schleck is to fight for the GC.
It was Cadel Evans (Lotto) that was next among the favorites to take the stage but just a bit before Rui Costa (Ag2r) surprised many riders by taking the best time so far. The Portuguese is a very solid rider in races that combine hills with time trials and mountains and could be a factor in the GC. Both Evans and Costa seemed to benefit for a decrease in the wind speed. The Lotto rider also did a very strong stage and took the 2nd provisional time, tied with Rui Costa but with losing only on the hundreds of a second. Costa's time was going to be quite difficult to beat.
There was quite a bit of time before Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) started his time trial. The wind picked up in intensity and clearly hurt his chances as the Dutch lost 18 seconds at the finish line and grabbed the 17th place provisionally. Luckily for him, the prologue was not too long. Nevertheless, it seemed that some of the riders that started sooner in the day, like Jelle Vanendert and David Lopez had similar conditions and did not suffer as much. It is unclear whether the performance from Ten Dam could hint that he is still short of fitness before the Tour.
Levi Leipheimer (Trek) was among the last riders to take part in the starting stage of the Tour de Suisse. The American has been below what was expected from him so far this year and could only get a top 10 in the GC of the Tirreno - Adriatico. The Tour de Suisse should be a good opportunity for him as he is undoubtedly the leader of the team in this race and he should not disconnect from the race. His start was not bad and, even though he lost 15 seconds at the finish line it was still better than Laurens Ten Dam, who started only a few minutes before him.
The last of the favorites to take the stage was Emanuele Sella (Movistar). The Italian comes from a rather poor Criterium du Dauphine to try to get something out of the Tour de Suisse. However, his start of the race was not as good as he would have hoped. He lost 20 seconds to Rui Costa and got the provisional 21st position. This was quite a bit of time considering how short the prologue was and was not entirely justified by the wind. It will be tough for him in the time trial in Gossau and he will have to make up for a lot of time in the mountains.
The stage ended up with a bit of a surprise with Rui Costa's win. The Portuguese is indeed a very good rider in this type of stage but we could not see him as one of the top favorites before the stage. This takes his tally of wins for the season to 3, which is a considerable amount for a rider like him. Other riders that overperformed were Mikel Nieve and Simon Spilak (Tinkoff). Both are rider that should very much be taken into account. The Slovenian already had a good Dauphine and the time trial will be favorable to him.
We already talked about Robert Kiserlovski in here
Robert Kiselovski is a name that has been linked to the Lotto team since he turned professional. The Croatian joined the ranks of the Belgian team at the start of 2012 and stayed there for 5 seasons that were very successful for him. However, he decided to leave at the end of last season and sign a 2 years contract with Discovery Channel, a team that has seen better times and was 10th in the World Tour rankings last season. However, with Mikel Nieve leaving the team they needed a rider to complement Jean-Christophe Peraud in the lead of the team.
The decision was not easy for the Croatian to leave the team that saw him grow but he is now 28 years old and wants to have a leading role granted in at least one of the Grand Tours of the season. That was something that Lotto might not have been in a position to give him. Kiserlovski was already 3rd in the last Giro d'Italia and surely wants to try and improve on that performance this year in the Vuelta a España, a race that should fit him nicely. His main problem will be that the kind of support he will get will not be as good as Lotto could have provided.
The signing of Kiserlovski was also a bit risky for Discovery as they invested quite a bit of money on a rider that did not get any results after his podium last season. He took a stage in the Giro as well and a 7th in the Tirreno - Adriatco but that is not the consistency that they would expect from a rider like Kiserlovski. Even if his results had not been that spectacular in 2015 he had been a lot more consistent, with a podium in Beijing and top 10 results in the Tour de Suisse and the Volta a Catalunya. Nevertheless, 2016 was his best year so far.
With all his targets ahead his 2017 season has been unremarkable so far. He got the win in the last stage of the Dauphine but got into a bit of a fight as he left his teammate Jean-Christophe Peraud behind when he was fighting for the podium. The team refused to make any comments on the issue but there were not many happy faces even though they had just got their first win of the season. The Tour de Suisse is now one of the key races of the season for Kiserlovski so a good result might appease his managers.
The riders will have to face a very long stage in the Tour de Suisse after yesterday's prologue. They will have to ride 217 kilometers between Verbania and the sky resort in Verbier. There are only 2 climbs in the mountainous stage but they are both proper climbs. The Simplonpass is a giant that was already raced in the Tour de Romandie but it is too far from the finish line to see any significant attacks. The favorites will have to wait until the 8 kilometers climb to Verbier. The last climb is not too long but hard enough to make significant differences.
There was a very quick start to the stage and the peloton was controlling the breaks until the bottom of the Simplonpass. Rui Costa (Ag2r), the leader, took advantage of the control that other teams were doing and took the bonus seconds at the sprint in Domodossola. 50 kilometers in the stage there was still no break at the front. The Italian town was the last one before the Simplon but they still had 38 kilometers until the top of the climb. The riders could enjoy a much nicer day than the one they had back in April to climb it.
A group had finally settled at the front of the race by the time they reached the top of the Simplonpass. There were 6 riders including Cameron Meyer (Trek), Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant), Julien Simon (BMC) and Michael Albasini (IAM). They had a gap of 6' 30'' with 129 kilometers to go but the terrain they would have to face until reaching Verbier was very favorable for the peloton to chase. They also made quite an effort to open the gap in the climb. Meanwhile, Etixx and Ag2r were setting the pace at the peloton but it was quite an easy one.
There was an attack by 3 riders almost at the top of the Simplonpass: Jose Serpa (Ag2r), Emanuele Sella (Movistar) and Sergey Chernetskiy (Vacansoleil). They chased through the valley of the Rhone and managed to get to the front group before the second intermediate sprint in Martigny. Nevertheless, Serpa was always a passenger as he was not willing to work at the front as he had the leader in the peloton. The chasing group was only 2' 30'' behind and that was not good news for the break as there were many teams involved in the chase. Even Cadel Evans (Lotto) was working, which suggests that Lotto is keen on Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) fighting for the GC.
The terrain from Martigny to the bottom of the climb to Verbier were always slightly uphill but Frank Schleck (Etixx) was a bit too early in attacking as he did it in the approach to the climb. With 10 kilometers to go the peloton was already closing in on the break. The riders upfront had no chance to make it to the finish line any more. The shape of the peloton changed quite considerably as they approached the climb and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) and Johan Vansummeren (HTC) were leading the group. Every team wanted to get a good positioning for their leader.
Frank Schleck did not go far but Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery) attacked as soon as the road turned uphill and opened a small 10 seconds gap with the peloton. It was probably still a bit too early but an attack from a strong rider was going to trigger an increase in the pace of the bunch. Cadel Evans and Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) were at the front of the group as the Belgian team recovered the front of the group as soon as the peloton hit the climb. Among the favorites that were closest to the front we could see Mikel Nieve (Katusha), Rui Costa and Juanjo Cobo (HTC).
Cadel Evans did a great job at the front of the bunch but just before the 5 kilometers mark it was David Lopez (Euskaltel) who attacked and opened a gap at the front. Mikel Nieve tried to go with him but could not quite make it and was 20 seconds behind. The group was still quite large and with a bit less than 5 kilometers to go they were 35 seconds behind Lopez. It would be unwise to let a rider as dangerous as Lopez go away because any time that he takes today will be very hard to take back from him. No team seemed keen to take the responsibility to chase.
Frank Schleck had recovered from his earlier attack and showed that he was among the best climbers again with an attack shortly after. He easily got to Mikel Nieve but with a bit less than 3 kilometers to go they were 30 seconds behind Lopez and the gap did not look like coming down. Nieve was suffering to follow the pace set by Schleck. Meanwhile, there were as many as 50 riders still in the leader's group but they were already 1 minute behind. Many riders were quite conservative but they could lose much time and lose their options to the race. Robert Kiserlovski and Jelle Vanendert were working at this group.
Jelle Vanendert finally attacked but it was far too late to fight for the stage win. With 600 meters to go he had gone past Mikel Nieve and Frank Schleck but was still 30 seconds behind David Lopez, who was heading towards another stage win. Schleck had briefly tried to follow Vanendert's pace but it was a futile effort. He was around 40 seconds behind Lopez. Meanwhile, Mathias Frank had caught up with Mikel Nieve. The Swiss is the defending champion in the race but he was dismissive of his options before the start of the race. In any case, there were going to be significant gaps at the finish line in Verbier.
David Lopez wins in Verbier! The Spaniard takes his 5th win of the season, which makes him the rider with the most wins in 2017. He took advantage of the fact that there were doubts in the peloton when he attacked and that he has not been as dominant this season as he was last year. He will also take over the leader's jersey. The second position went to Jelle Vanendert, 24 seconds behind. The Belgian cut the gap that David Lopez had but he should be gaining time in the mountains if he wants to compensate for the time he will lose in the time trial.
Frank Schleck was again very strong in the mountains and crossed the line 42 seconds behind. Mathias Frank and Mikel Nieve completed the top 5 in the stage. It is also worth noting that Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) managed to cross the finish line in the 7th position, only 1' 05'' behind Lopez. The Italian is not the kind of rider that handles well the mountain stages and he still was better than many climbers. The fight for the GC should not be that important in the following stages as there are tricky stages but not with climbs that are hard enough.
Most of the 3rd stage of the Tour de Suisse is not really difficult, with only the uncategorised climb to Chatel-Saint-Denis in the first part of the stage. However, there are a few ingredients that will make this stage a bit more interesting than the typical flat stage. First, the length of the route. At almost 200 kilometers there will be some tired legs, especially as yesterday was a similar story. Second, the final circuit is quite hilly, with the climb to Frienisberg 21 kilometers from the finish line. And third, the stage finishes directly after the descent to Aaarberg so it will be very difficult to prepare the final sprint.
There was a bit of a battle to take the break of the day after the start in Martigny but it was not long before a group of 4 riders took the lead: Anthony Roux (IAM), Martin Elmiger (Orica), Tom Dumoulin (Cannondale) and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data). At the top of the climb to Chatel-Saint-Denis they had a gap of 6 minutes over the bunch but it was not a categorized climb in the Tour de Suisse. The peloton was not in a rush to bring them back and Euskaltel was setting an easy pace with sporadic help from Lotto.
The first passage through Aarberg was done with 34 kilometers to go but it was not a passage through the finish line. At this point the peloton was already chasing hard, with Euskaltel, Etixx and Lotto most interested in bringing the leaders back. The gap had shrunk to only 2' 40''. However, the final circuit was much more difficult than the rest of the stage and the chase by the peloton would also be tricky. There might even be some riders that are keen to give it a go in one of the climbs and try a surprise victory in Aarberg.
A puncture by Reinardt Janse van Rensburg in the climb to Frienisberg meant that there were only 3 riders at the front of the race at the top. Their gap had come down to 1' 45'' with 21 kilometers to go but they still seemed to have a chance. Meanwhile, Etixx was clearly keen to give Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) a chance in the final sprint and they had Maxime Monfort (Etixx) and Tim Wellens (Etixx) leading the peloton in the climb. This was also adding some tiredness into the legs of those sprinters that are not too keen on climbing. The climb was not too hard but enough to make a few riders suffer.
Anthony Roux was first through the top of the climb to Innerberg ahead of Tom Dumoulin but they were about to be caught by the main bunch as they crossed the KoM sprint. With only 8 kilometers to go Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx) was doing a very good effort at the front of the main bunch with Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel) right behind. There were a few sprinters very close to the front of the group, like Simone Ponzi (LottoNL), Michael Matthews (Cannondale) and Andre Greipel (Lotto). It was going to be a very fast run to the line.
Chris Sutton (Lotto) launched himself in the descent to try to get Andre Greipel in a good position ahead of the final sprint and they opened a little gap with 2 kilometers to go. It would be crucial to be good on the descents to have a chance in today's sprint. Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel) was leading the chasers ahead of Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) but he was caught unaware when Sutton accelerated. Other sprinters that were well positioned included Ben Swift (Vacansoleil), Michael Matthews and Fran Ventoso (Movistar). It was a frantic downhill finish.
Andre Greipel emerged from behind Chris Sutton with around 600 meters to go. He was in a perfect position for the final sprint and the fact that it was downhill was going to make any comebacks quite difficult. Nevertheless, the gap that they enjoyed was being closed down quickly by the sprinters in the bunch. Lloyd Mondory was making progress alongside Ben Swift. We could also see Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) and Alexander Kristoff but even though they are teammates they were each on one side of the road. They would probably be more successful in one of them led the other.
Andre Greipel wins in Aarberg! The German made good the gap that Chris Sutton opened with him with a couple of kilometers to go and did not give a chance to the rest of the sprinters at the finish line. This is his second win of the year, both at Switzerland. Lloyd Mondory was the best of the rest ahead of Ben Swift. Mondory is coming back to racing after a rather long break but he is quite close to the win. The top 5 was completed by Fran Ventoso and Kenny van Hummel (LottoNL). It was surprising that none of the Euskaltel sprinters managed to get in the top 5.
The day was quite easy for the riders in the GC and it was a bit disappointing not to see any riders trying to attack in the final circuit. The chasing of the peloton would have been quite hard in the terrain between the climbs and the final downhill kilometers might have played in the hands of the attackers. Nevertheless, tomorrow's stage should be much more likely to provide entertainment from the GC riders as the climbs close to Trimbach are hard enough for some of the favorites to try to open a gap and there is not much of a flat section before the finish line.
Today's stage is quite similar to what we witnessed yesterday but the stage is clearly harder. The riders will have plenty of kilometers to ride and a 40 kilometers long circuit around Trimbach / Olten. However, the climbs to Unter Hauenstien and Salhohe are clearly tougher than what the riders endured yesterday. It would be very unlikely that many of the sprinters would survive to fight for the stage win today. Additionally, they have to climb the hard Scheltenpass halfway through the stage, which will make some riders tired before the last kilometers.
There was quite a big fight to get the break of the day in the early kilometers of the stage. A group of 6 managed to get away, including Tanel Kangert (Katusha), Mauro Santambrogio (Sky), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant), Sergey Chernetskiy (Vacansoleil) and Richie Porte (Movistar). At the climb to the Schletenpass, with 106 kilometers to go, they had a gap of 7' 30'' over the main bunch. Most interestingly, the tactics from Katusha seemed appalling as they had Carlos Betancur (Katusha) working at the front of the pack while Kangert was the best placed rider in the break, only 2 minutes behind in the GC.
The intermediate sprint today was placed just before the first passage through the finish line. Rui Costa (Ag2r) won the sprint in the group followed by Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) and Fran Ventoso (Movistar). Meanwhile, only 3 riders were actively collaborating in the break and that put their chances of making it to the finish line in jeopardy. They still had 4' 25'' on the bunch but Euskaltel was chasing hard and the gap was coming down quickly in the last few kilometers. The wind was favorable in the last kilometers towards the line so any attack will have bigger chances of surviving in the flat.
The climb to Unter Hauenstein was tackled as soon as the riders crossed the finish line for the first time. Carlos Barredo (Orica) was the first at the top while the gap was still 3' 45'' for the riders in the early break. They had lost close to 1 minute in only 8 kilometers. The chase was still led by Euskaltel at the bunch, who had Joaquim Rodriguez (Euskaltel) working. Bart de Clercq (Etixx) was also lending a hand to the Spanish team. The favorites were coming close to the front of the group but the strong wind might prevent the attacks if it is a headwind in the climbs.
Mikel Nieve (Katusha) attacked in the short climb in between the two categorized climbs of the final circuit. The Spaniard dragged Jelle Vanendert (Lotto), Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) and Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) with him and they had a small gap at the top of the climb. Michele Scarponi (Astana) and Xavi Tondo (Lampre) were trying to react in the peloton but Euskaltel was keeping a high pace in the peloton and David Lopez (Euskaltel) was following his teammates. Meanwhile, the gap to the break was coming down really fast: 2' 25''.
Mikel Nieve and Simone Ponzi caught up to the early break and left them behind before the top of the climb to Salhohe, with 17 kilometers to go. They were leading the race with 15 seconds over the group of the favorites, which was still quite large. Sergey Chernetskiy and Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) were leading the chasers but most of the work in between climbs had been done by Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel). The whole of the Euskaltel team seems to be committed to David Lopez winning the Tour de Suisse. Among those left behind we could see Lloyd Mondory (Etixx), who could have been a candidate for the stage win.
There was quite a bit of chaos in the peloton in the flat section towards the finish line in Trimbach / Olten after Mikel Nieve and Simone Ponzi had been caught in the descent. There were several attacks from the main group that were reeled back in as well. With 5 kilometers to go it was Wilco Kelderman (Giant) who gave it a go. The Dutch quickly opened a 15 seconds gap over the group where Alexander Kristoff was still trying to control the race for David Lopez. They got a bit of help from Cannondale as well. Kristoff might be one of the favorites in this group but Euskaltel is clearly committed to the GC win.
There was no understanding on who should be chasing Wilco Kelderman down and the Giant rider got to the last kilometer with a 16 seconds gap over the chasers. It was a very good gap for him and he was almost touching the stage with his hands. Meanwhile, David Lopez started the final sprint ahead of Bjorn Leukemans. However, Simone Ponzi was already started to gain on them and quickly coming to the front. The Italian was the winner of the same stage last year. Two IAM riders were next: Romain Bardet (IAM) and Mathias Frank (IAM). The GC riders were keen to get the bonus seconds on offer.
Wilco Kelderman wins in Trimbach / Olten! The Dutch takes his first win of the season and the third for Giant - Alpecin. The Pro Continental team is doing a great job this year and with a very limited budget their performances are clearly better than those of many World Tour teams. Kelderman did not get any gap over the bunch but the bonus seconds were enough to put him in the top 10 in the GC. The second place in the stage went predictably to Simone Ponzi. The Italian is clearly the best sprinter in hilly stages and showed it again today.
The last bonus second of the day went to David Lopez, which shows how important this race is for the Spaniard. The top 5 was completed by Bjorn Leukemans and Rui Costa. The stage was not important in terms of the GC in the end and the peloton that crossed the finish line had as many as 77 riders. Clearly, the riders that should be involved in the GC are saving themselves for later in the week, when they will have to give their all in the last 3 stages of the race. The next two stages are not completely flat but should be resolved in a sprint.
The fifth stage is again classified as flat but as with most of the flat stages in this Tour de Suisse it is not easy for the sprinters. There is also a 40 kilometers long circuit around Gansingen with 3 short climbs but today they will do 2 laps to the final circuit. Additionally, the last kilometer is slightly uphill and will make it even more difficult for the pure sprinters. The GC riders should not lose any time and any attacks will be difficult to maintain as the last climb, Kaistenberg, is 14 kilometers away from the finish line.
The break of the day was far stronger than what the teams of the sprinters would have liked. The 5 riders at the front were Tom Dumoulin (Cannondale), Bryan Coquard (Dimension), Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre), Paul Martens (HTC) and Geraint Thomas (Tinkoff). They had opened a gap of 5' 30'' over the main bunch at the climb to Benkerijoch, with 107 kilometers to the finish line. They were already quite close to the final circuit. The start of the stage had been very fast before the break was formed with Euskaltel, Etixx and Lotto trying to control the race.
The peloton had to start chasing rather soon and at the second climb to the Kaisenberg, which would also later be the last climb of the day, Tim Wellens (Etixx), Danilo di Luca (Euskaltel) and George Hincapie (Lotto) were leading the way. All the climbs to the hills around Gansingen were stretching the group considerably but barely anyone got left behind with 54 kilometers to go. Nevertheless, the pace was going to hurt a few of the sprinters. Meanwhile, the break riders were riding hard but the gap had decreased to 3' 40''.
The second intermediate sprint of the day was placed at the top of the Oberbozberg, in what was the penultimate climb of the day. With 27 kilometers to the finish line the break still had 2 minutes over the bunch. Paul Martens was first at the top ahead of Francesco Gavazzi. On the main bunch, it was Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) setting the pace at the front and that was too much for a few riders, who could not keep up. It would seem as if the pace would even be too fast for Andre Greipel (Lotto), who should be their man for the final sprint. With all the climbs taken at a high pace it did not look like it would be a good day for the sprinters.
Etixx was working hard at the front of the bunch with Maxime Monfort (Etixx) and Bart de Clercq (Etixx) at the last climb of the day, the third climb to Kaistenberg. There were only 14 kilometers to go but, even though the stage had been quite hard, there were sprinters like Lloyd Mondory (Etixx), Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) and Andre Greipel already close to the front. Meanwhile, Tom Dumoulin attacked from the front group and had 40 seconds on the bunch. His gap did not look like big enough to grab the stage. There were plenty of riders suffering at the end of the peloton.
The peloton reached the final 3 kilometers broke into 2 pieces. The break was about to be caught when there were a series of crashes close to the bottom of the descent of the Kaistenberg. Among those caught behind were Mathias Frank (IAM), who had crashed himself, Rui Costa (Ag2r) and Wilco Kelderman (Giant). The first group was led by Bart de Clercq but the Belgian seemed to be the only rider left for Lloyd Mondory and he had a tough job to keep the bunch under control. Andre Greipel and Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) were right behind him. Other sprinters close to the front were Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel), Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) and Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff).
Bart de Clercq was clearly exhausted as the peloton was about to enter the last kilometer of the stage but no other team was willing to take over the preparation of the sprint. This meant that most of the sprinters were very close to the front and Lloyd Mondory was not getting much of an advantage. Meanwhile, Rohan Dennis (Lotto) was making progress on the left-hand side to get to Andre Greipel to help him position for the sprint. On the back group the chase had already being organized but they were losing 2 minutes against the front group so there was going to be a significant gap at the finish line.
Alexander Kristoff quickly took the lead of the sprint, taking advantage of how late Lloyd Mondory started his own sprint. Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan (Sky) were very close to the Norwegian with Ben Swift also trying to get to the front of the race. The final meters of the stage were slightly uphill, which should benefit riders like Kristoff and Mondory but it seems that getting the lead in the preparation for the sprint did not do any favors to Mondory. We could also see how Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) was trying to get involved in the sprint to grab bonus seconds.
Peter Sagan wins in Gansingen! The Slovak is the surprising winner of the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse. This is his first win since he won a stage in the Tour de Pologne 2014. The Sky rider handled the pace in today's stage and the uphill in the final kilometer really well. It is a sign of how difficult it was for the sprinters the sign that Jelle Vanendert took the 2nd place in the stage. Most of the sprinters faded a little bit in the last meters of the stage with Alexander Kristoff taking the 3rd place and Lloyd Mondory and Ben Swift completing the top 5.
On the GC the stage should have been almost irrelevant but in the end there were 3 riders losing 1' 30'' at the finish line: Mathias Frank, Rui Costa and Wilco Kelderman. Frank was last year's winner and was the only one among the 3 that was meant to fight for the final GC. Only 64 riders finished in the front group and the crashes do not justify that many riders losing contact with the group. Tomorrow will be the last opportunity for the sprinters in the Tour de Suisse but as usual they will have to handle a few hills before the finish line.
