Obviously, our sponsors always closely follow our home race. After the bad performances in the last couple of weeks, they were following even more closely this time - and whereas they knew they couldn't expect miracles from the team, they expected every single rider to give 100% for the team.
But the prologue already ended in a first disappointment. There were three clear-cut favourites for the stage podium - and of these, Gabriel Chavanne only ended up 3rd. Gone was the dream of winning at home and wearing the jersey, gone were lots of points as well. He did try, of course, but as most often this year, he failed to beat similar level riders.
Gabriel Chavanne on his way to 3rd in the prologue.
Sadly, it was his final chance to shine at home at his maximum power - and he might have some SKA-nightmares for the rest of his life.
However, the ultimate nightmare for the team - and especially the sponsors - happened on day 2. All important sponsor representatives - the CEOs of Jura, GIANTS and the secondary sponsors - were invited by Stadler Rail CEO Peter Spuhler to Stadler's HQ in Bussnang - 15km away from the finish line in Frauenfeld. A tour of the factory was obviously on the menu - which was particularly interesting for Ticino Turismo, with the new Centovallina trains being assembled there.
In the afternoon, they headed over to Frauenfeld, to follow the finale of the race. And what they saw there left them not amused at all.
We knew we had the best sprinter in the race, and so we fully committed on chasing down the breakaway, then preparing the sprint for Cees Bol. Everything looked set up perfectly - until the sprint train suddenly decided to stop and to break up. All we got from this stage was a 10th place. After which the CEOs of Jura and GIANTS made their appearance in the team bus, as mentioned in a previous update. They clearly stated that if something like this should reproduce, the team wouldn't have a future with its current sponsors.
Team manager Mr. Fabianski wasn't in the bus at that time. He was with the Stadler CEO. Why? Because the latter was the most angry of all. Instead of getting a demonstration of Swiss quality, all we got was a disaster. And Stadler's rivals instantly jumped on the fact that our sprint train shut down - posting memes like this:
Swiss Quality Trains - They look nice, but they shut down whenever you need them most!
In short, the atmosphere that evening was below zero. The sponsors and the team management were more than disappointed, and so were those riders on the team who actually wanted to achieve something nice. The riders who - once again - sabotaged the team had some difficulties to explain what they did and why - they simply didn't have any arguments. The great divide between some riders and the team management was more obvious than ever. Could this team have any future?
Well, the "show" had to go on, and at least we can't blame Cees Bol for not trying on day 3. He even tried really hard, surviving all the hills and getting to the finish line with just 3 other riders he'd usually easily outsprint. But well, he just didn't have enough left, taking 4th place - his 3rd 4th place this year, he never managed to finish higher up. So at least some kind of redemption, even though hopes were far bigger when he mad that decisive split. He tried, and that's a huge improvement over most of his other races this year.
Cees Bol getting some kind of redemption by finishing 4th on stage 3.
Onto the four GC-defining stages then. Stage 4 was a memorable one, with Polar launching a team attack - that ultimately saw Bernal gaining more than 3 minutes on everyone else. Despite that time loss, Colin Stüssi actually did a great job, finishing 7th among the GC contenders. He still was just 17th in GC because of his bad prologue, but there were 3 more stages to go.
Stage 5 was a hilly one that didn't yield many gaps. Colin lost a couple of seconds to the punchiest riders, nothing unexpected. But then, he pulled off his masterpiece on stage 6, the hardest mountain stage of the race, ending in snowy Saas Fee.
He didn't just keep up with similarly skilled climbers, no he beat most of them! Thanks to Valentin Darbellay's brilliant support, Colin had a lot of power left on the final sections of the stage - and Colin Stüssi finished 9th on stage 6! Which might not sound that spectacular - but considering that there were 3 breakaway riders up front, this was 6th place among the main GC contenders!
Colin Stüssi squeezing out every bit of energy to finish 9th on stage 6.
After this great effort, Colin was 8th in GC - behind two breakaway riders he knew he'd normally overtake in the closing ITT. Which was a special one, starting with a downhill and ending in a climb.
Well, Colin Stüssi did exactly what was needed on day 7 to fend off any charges from behind, while overtaking two more riders in GC - meaning that our team captain finished 6th in the final GC!
Colin Stüssi conquering the climb to Brigels to claim 6th in the final GC!
This 6th place actually is our best GC result in a PTHC race this year (and this will likely not change anymore). It's tied for our best Tour de Suisse result, with Masnada's 6th place in 2021 being a tad more valuable still given that it was a 9-day PT race back then. It's also Colin's 5th Top 10 in as many races this year - 7th in Copenhagen - Malmö, 10th in Paris-Nice, 7th in the Giro, 10th in the Vuelta - and now 6th in the Tour de Suisse! What an amazing season by the currently best Swiss stage racer!
Let's also mention our consistency in terms of stage results. Yes, the top-notch result was missing. We failed at winning the prologue or the sprint stage. But except for stage 5, where Colin ended up 11th, we got a Top 10 every single day (although 4 of them in 9th or 10th, not yielding any points). So we definitely were present. But would it be enough to still somehow satisfy the sponsors after day 2?
Nope. The team did reach all targets. But it left a very bad impression on one day. And making up for one really, really bad impression takes time, a lot of time. Will we get it? Can the sponsors still be convinced to continue? Can Mr. Fabianski find a way of cooperating with some riders who obviously would want to get rid of him? We'll find out - at least an immediate full-stop seems to be off the table for now.
Thanks to Colin Stüssi mostly. An incredibly reliable and consistent rider, always loyal to his team. Colin scored 98 points in this race - with 120 being the team's goal. The target was reached, as mentioned before, with Gabriel Chavanne contributing some important points despite the disappointing prologue outcome, and also thanks to Valentin Darbellay finishing 25th in GC. Thanks to everyone who contributed!
Tour de Suisse | 
Cees Bol. Everything looked set up perfectly - until the sprint train suddenly decided to stop and to break up. All we got from this stage was a 10th place. After which the CEOs of Jura and GIANTS made their appearance in the team bus, as mentioned in a previous update. They clearly stated that if something like this should reproduce, the team wouldn't have a future with its current sponsors.
