Welcome back to Quinto, from where the riders will tackle the queen stage of the 2022 Tour de Suisse! Right from the start, we have ascending routes, which will lead the peloton all the way up to the highest point of the race - the Nufenen Pass, one out of just two HC climbs this year.
We'll surely have an intense fight for those KoM points, as the first up there is likely to wear the corresponding jersey tomorrow, but from the top of the Pass - after 30 kilometers - we might have a pretty boring race. It's all downhill or flat, as the riders will follow the Rhône valley, taking a first intermediate sprint in Sion (133km), then heading back up the valley to the second sprint point in Sierre (147km).
The final climb to Crans-Montana will start in Sierre (while the spectators will probably mostly make use of the cable car), which is a Category 1 climb. Crans-Montana is best known for its ski resort - including the Plaine-Morte glacier where you can even ski in summer - and the 18-hole golf course, venue of the Omega European Masters, one of the best-known tournaments of the PGA European Tour.
But it's not about balls and holes today - at least not literally, as you'll definitely need some balls to succeed up here. Given the length of the final climb, it's likely to be the best opportunity in the entire race for the top climbers to gain a good amount of time - and if you remember yesterday's result, especially the two pre-race favorites have to gain a lot of time.
It doesn't come as a surprise at all that Morton and Kudus are the top favorites for the stage win; alongside them, Bernal also gets three stars. However, all of Haig, Choi, Barguil, Carthy, Shikai, Berhane or Taaramäe could be successful here as well - and the bookies didn't even have room for Pluchkin on their list. Yes, it's a really stacked climber field - and Wirtgen should have a pretty hard time defending his race lead.
Live coverage will pick up when the front of the race reaches Sierre, but in the meantime let's take a look back at what happened so far - including the fight for the HC KoM sprint on top of Nufenen Pass!
What happened so far
The sky was mostly clear when the riders left Quinto, with just a couple of high clouds. Their shape however clearly indicated the wind conditions: we have quite strong winds today, of about 30km/h - and blowing the riders down the Rhône valley for most of the stage. However, especially between Sierre and Sion - and back - we'll mostly have crosswinds, so the riders should be attentive there! The wind should however have just very limited impact on the final climb.
Wirtgen and the other special jersey wearers - you can spot Tanfield in the ladybug-style points jersey, and Mano in the white jersey of the U25 leader - were in the front row, as usual. And those who had planned to attack early on shouldn't be too far back, either, with the roads ascending pretty much right from the start.
It took some time and several attacks, but by the time they reached the official start of the Nufenen Pass climb, these five riders regrouped to build our breakaway of the day.
Rojas was the first to attack, followed by Di Maggio and Seibeb. The former dropped back after some time, though, not liking the long climbs as much as the short ones.
Antunes, Bouchard and Herrera had to try multiple times, as Schreurs wasn't happy to let them go. Given his lack of climbing skills, the Aussie however eventually had to fold, and so we're left with these five riders up front.
Despite some smart team tactics by Volcanica - Rojas opened a gap between Herrera and Seibeb - they left almost empty-handed. In the end, Seibeb was clearly the strongest - and Herrera dropped down to 4th, being overtaken both by Bouchard and Antunes, who paid for their unclever positioning.
KoM - Nufenen Pass (HC)
1.
Seibeb
20
2.
Bouchard
14
3.
Antunes
12
4.
Herrera
10
5.
Rojas
8
6.
Harper
6
7.
Hennis
5
8.
Keinath
4
9.
Hennessy
3
10.
Kuroeda
2
11.
Bernal
1
The peloton trailed Seibeb by 5'34". The five escapees eventually regrouped on the downhill; even Rojas closed the 1'49" gap he had on the top.
However, supported by the strong wind, the pack descended even faster, and closed the gap more and more riding down the Rhône valley. And this is where we'll pick up the live coverage.
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
The five leaders have just reached Sierre for the first time. After the short trip to Sion, they'll be back soon and will then tackle the hill that currently is to their right, leading to the final climb.
The peloton has come as close as 1'28" by now - 17km to go to until the intermediate sprint in Sion.
5km to go until the intermediate sprint, and the gap is still 1'01". So it will likely be one for the breakaway.
More importantly, though, the crosswinds we mentioned earlier are indeed leading to some splits in the peloton! Especially cycleYorkshire are pulling very hard - and they're doing some damage! Of the top climbers, we only have Morton, Bernal, Berhane, Pluchkin and Geoghegan Hart in the first group of 21 riders, all the others follow in the main pack!
After the KoM sprint earlier on, Seibeb also wins the sprint in Sion, again ahead of Bouchard and Antunes. Rojas is now definitely gone and will soon be caught by the pack.
Sprint - Sion
1.
Seibeb
6
2.
Bouchard
4
3.
Antunes
2
Which happens exactly now, as cycleYorkshire are still setting a horrendous pace! The four remnants of the original break are still 56" ahead, though - and the big group behind trails by another 33".
Herrera just barely manages to cross the sprint line in Sierre ahead of the pack, led by Kuroeda. Seibeb and Antunes pick up the remaning points. We also see that the peloton is back together, and all the top climbers are in the first 50 positions.
Sprint - Sierre
1.
Herrera
6 (6)
2.
Seibeb
4 (10)
3.
Antunes
2 (4)
Now we'll have a short hill and a descent, and then the riders will finally reach the climb up to Crans-Montana!
Surprisingly, the peloton stopped chasing once they caught the other three escapees, and Herrera actually was able to build up a one-minute gap again!
The climb up to Crans-Montana mostly is a steady and about 6-7% steep one. But after a short flat section with 3.5km to go, it's not over by any means - the final 1.6km have maximum gradients of about 13%, and are above 10% on average!
Surprisingly, and despite all their hard work before, cycleYorkshire aren't working in the pack anymore! And it's not even the teams of other top climbers setting the pace here - instead we have Pogacar and Geoghegan Hart sending their teammates to the front!
By the way, down in the valley they can spot Dumoulin approaching the intermediate sprint in Sierre. The Dutchman currently is 10 minutes down, with the back of the race trailing the leader by a bit more than 12 minutes. The time limit therefore shouldn't be an issue today.
After about 2km of climbing, the courageous Herrera is caught as the last member of today's breakaway. Gayral is currently setting the pace, which obviously isn't very high.
11km to go, we have Wright at the front of the still huge peloton now. It's really just Cedevita and Isostar caring about pace setting so far.
Yes, we all want to see different, more action-loaded pictures - but that's just not what we can offer you, sorry. Still the same boring race with 10km to go - more than a third of the climb already done!
Finally, the first attacks! His team has been preparing this move during the first half of the climb, and now Geoghegan Hart is the first one to try something!
Race leader Wirtgen is very attentive, though, and immediately joins the Brit alongside Powless. Crncevic is trying to keep them at bay.
All the top climbers are in the first 20 positions now, so we expect a lot more fireworks soon!
After Carthy put in a big shift, Morton pretty easily shuts down that move.
With 7km to go, Geoghegan Hart accelerates again! This time, Wirtgen has missed out on the move, unlike Powless, Morton and Almeida!
Pogacar wasn't quite attentive enough, either, but he's now chasing down the leading foursome! Choi still has Leemreize working for him, while the others aren't looking too concerned yet. 6.4km to go.
However, all those accelerations have led to some splits - with Conci probably being the most interesting name missing out!
Haig has now taken over the reins in the still 54 rider peloton, with Bernal and Berhane staying close to the Australian. The four leaders have built up a 22" gap, and Pogacar is back in the big chasing group. 5.5km to the line.
Most top climbers are still close to the front, except for Carthy, who did some work earlier in the race.
And U25 leader Mano is also struggling, as expected though.
Geoghegan Hart is still doing most of the work up front, he must have some fantastic legs today! Morton, Powless and Almeida are following pretty easily, though.
Further back, Choi thinks that Haig's speed is too low, and is attacking on the other side of the road!
The Hong Kong native indeed quickly gets a gap, and now it's O'Connor trying to chase him down!
Shikai, Bernal, Taaramäe, Wirtgen, Roglic, Haig, Kudus, Barguil, Berhane, Keizer and Hirschi are next on the road.
As Morton takes over from Geoghegan Hart, he doesn't just keep that steady pace, but he's accelerating! Can he drop the others on those pretty flat roads?
Choi is still somewhere in between the leaders and the group of favorites, where O'Connor looks unable to close the gap.
It's not much, but Morton indeed has 2-3 bike lengths on the other three - is this gap already decisive?
Choi doesn't look to be getting anywhere, and further back O'Connor is done now. Shikai is leading the group.
But the gap between the leaders and the group of favorites has grown to 1'02", so although it might not look so, they've already gained some significant time!
Morton isn't really able to definitely shake off Almeida and Geoghegan Hart, but Powless has cracked!
Let's just recall that GC-wise, Morton is 40" down, while both Geoghegan Hart and Almeida are just 11" off the race lead - the current gap definitely wouldn't be enough for the Australian to take the race lead, but it's looking great for the chasing duo!
Back in the chasing group, Haig feels like he has to move now if he still wants to catch the leaders! The others don't react yet, it's still Shikai setting a steady pace.
We then have Bernal, Taaramäe, Barguil, Kudus, Wirtgen, O'Connor, Borisavljevic, Sosnitskiy, Pogacar and - out of the picture - Berhane, Roglic, Smith, Rachid, Harper, Lunke, Karnulin and Figueiredo.
And, to the local fans' big delight, Hirschi and Frankiny!
There's a split after this group - and the two main riders having missed out are Keizer and Pluchkin!
Up front, Morton is now done with the flat part - and look at the wall he's literally hitting now! 1.6km of 10% gradient roads - what a dessert after this stage!
The Aussie's gap isn't big, though - and Almeida is actually looking fresher. Geoghegan Hart surely can't be written off yet, either - and neither can those behind, as with that wall right ahead a lot of time can still be gained with a well-timed move!
Here are the current timings:
Morton
+ 13"
Geoghegan Hart
Almeida
+ 25" (+ 37")
Powless
+ 14" (+ 51")
Choi
+ 13" (+ 1'04")
Haig
+ 25" (+ 1'29")
Kudus
Bernal
Barguil
Shikai
Berhane
Taaramäe
Pogacar
Roglic
Sosnitskiy
Frankiny
Wirtgen
Lunke
O'Connor
Smith
Rachid
Harper
Karnulin
Figueiredo
Borisavljevic
Hirschi
+ 47" (+ 2'16")
Gr. Pluchkin
So although we didn't see lots of action, there still are some serious time gaps incoming!
The chasing group has shrunk to 13 riders, with Lunke and Berhane being the most important riders dropped!
Up front, we see that Morton still has the smallest of gaps, while Choi is about to join Powless now.
Red kite for Morton, with his closest followers still being some meters further down the road!
Haig looks to be making the catch soon - can he move up even further?
Morton seems to be extending his gap now, as both Geoghegan Hart and Almeida are looking tired now. Choi is about to drop Powless, while Haig doesn't seem to have much left in the tank!
600m left for Morton, who needs at least a 21" gap on his chasers to take over the GC lead! How much does he have left? The gap still stands at about 15" - not enough yet!
Haig looked to be tiring before, but now has found a second wind and has caught up with Choi and Powless within a couple of meters! The trio trails the stage leader by 52", with the yellow jersey group another 45" behind!
Bernal has now taken the lead in the chasing group, but nobody seems to be able to make a real difference on those really steep slopes. Shikai, Kudus, Pogacar, Wirtgen, Barguil, Smith and Taaramäe is the order behind the Colombian.
300m left, and the situation hasn't changed. Morton looks to be getting the stage win, but not the race lead.
Powless is now being dropped by Choi and Haig, who is going out of his saddle!
Bernal is still leading the yellow jersey group, which doesn't look to be getting closer.
Uh-oh, the situation HAS changed now, as Morton looks to have cracked! The GC lead is definitely gone, but even the stage win seems to be slipping away!
By now we can probably say that whoever crosses the line first between Geoghegan Hart and Almeida will be our new GC leader!
And the chasing trio seem to have overextended themselves as well, as the yellow jersey group has gotten much closer now!
Pogacar is looking very strong now and even seems to be attacking this group! Bernal, Shikai, Kudus, Smith, Wirtgen, Taaramäe, Hirschi, Roglic, Barguil and Frankiny are the other riders left in this group!
Less than 100 meters left, and it's now between Morton and Geoghegan Hart! The Australian is still slightly ahead, but the Brit has the higher speed!
Almeida has cracked, but is still looking to be safe for 3rd.
Behind, it looks like Choi has best managed his energy, as he has passed Haig again. Barguil seems to have cracked now as well.
In the end, Lachlan Morton timed his final push to perfection, edging out Tao Geoghegan Hart for the win here in Crans-Montana!
Congratulations as well to Joao Almeida for 3rd place - he finishes the stage as the best U25 rider, 21" behind the stage winner, and will therefore take the lead in this classification - while Geoghegan Hart is our new GC leader!
But let's now watch what happens behind, as Haig has clearly not thrown in the towel yet and is giving Choi a great fight!
Well, it probably was a final flare-up, as Choi now clearly has the edge going onto the final 100 meters - but the fastest man on the road is clearly Pogacar! Bernal is looking pretty strong as well - just like Hirschi - while both Barguil and Kudus have cracked and will lose more time!
Ki Ho Choi had enough left in the tank to secure 4th place, 48" behind Morton. Tadej Pogacar had a great stage and finishes 5th, with a 57" deficit.
Jack Haig and Egan Bernal are the first riders with a gap over a minute (+ 1'05"), taking 6th and 7th respectively.
Dethroned race leader Tom Wirtgen ends up on 8th place, 1'20" back - a result he can surely live with. Marc Hirschi gets a good 9th place, while Neilson Powless didn't completely crack, but holds onto 10th place.
Shikai, Taaramäe and Roglic all finish 1'20" back, too.
Next are Frankiny, Smith and Kudus, all with a 1'39" deficit. What a disappointing race this is for the Eritrean, unbelievable!
Team UBS will also be very disappointed with Barguil's 17th place, 1'58" back. Beaten by two Swiss riders - inexplicable.
For Berhane, losing 2'23", it's also the end of any GC ambitions - just like for Keizer and Pluchkin, both 3'18" back. That's some really big underperformances, and their team managers will have a lot of work to do to analyze what went wrong - and to come up with a solution by tomorrow already!
But for now, let tomorrow be tomorrow, and let's look back on today's stage - won by a narrow margin by Australian top climber Lachlan Morton! He had to fight way more than everyone expected against a fantastic Tao Geoghegan Hart, today's runner-up, and - except for the final 100 meters - against youngster Joao Almeida! Congratulations to all three podium riders!
We already repeatedly mentioned it - our new race leader is Tao Geoghegan Hart! Definitely not among the top favorites, he capitalized on his apparently amazing form, to fight for the stage win until the very last meters. Let's see what's possible for him in the remaining 5 stages - given his great skillset, he could even go all the way to winning this tour!
However, Lachlan Morton as current runner-up (and some other climbers) will surely try to gain some more time tomorrow and on stage 6 - and the Aussie usually isn't as bad a time triallist as he was yesterday, either.
Joao Almeida is currently 3rd, and will surely try to repeat his great performance on the remaning uphill stages!
Wirtgen as the strongest time triallist in the race is 1'21" back (6th place) - a gap he might be able to close in the final TT, but he shouldn't lose any more time by then!
But we'll surely have two more stages that are at least somewhat relevant for the GC before the closing TT, so let's not make too many calculations yet.
Despite losing the race lead, Tom Wirtgen actually showed a good performance today - confirmed by the fact that he gained 8 more points and hence will be our points leader for one more day!
Lachlan Morton therefore trails him by those 8 points, while Harry Tanfield and Tao Geoghegan Hart share 3rd place with 20 points (13 points behind).
He might be dreaming of eventually wearing a different pink jersey, but for now, Costa Seibeb will be happy to wear this one - standing for the KoM leader of the Tour de Suisse. The 20 points scored on top of Nufenen Pass were enough for the lead, with Lachlan Morton being 2nd thanks to the 16 points scored at the finish line. Geoffrey Bouchard has 14 points and is currently 3rd.
We said it before - Joao Almeida was the strongest U25 rider of the day, and takes over the white jersey with a solid lead over Egan Bernal (+ 55"), who remains the favorite to take this jersey home. Tadej Pogacar moves up to 3rd (+ 1'09").
Well, that was it, the Queen Stage of the 2022 Tour de Suisse! We hope you enjoyed our coverage, which we'll resume tomorrow with stage number 3 - another mountain stage, but with a downhill finish in Meiringen. See you there!
Tour de Suisse 
