Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) took the first big win of his career when he came out on top in a 7-rider sprint at the end of a shortened final stage of the Tour de Suisse. Having joined the attacks on the Flüelapass, he was part of a group that caught Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) on the descent and finally beat Sergey Chernetskii (Katusha) and Ion Izagirre (Movistar) in the final dash to the line. Lopez took the overall victory ahead of Izagirre and Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) as Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) lost ground and slipped to fifth.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Miguel Angel Lopez: This is a very important win for my career

"I decided to attack,” said Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno after the last stage of Tour de Suisse. “And everyone was surprised. I knew that my opponents would try to attack me and then I attacked myself. It went well!

 

"I was happy that the stage was shortened because of the weather. It was a good decision. This is my first victory in the World Tour, and I think this is the most beautiful. The Astana team trusts me. It helps me a lot, and I can return to Colombia to train and return to Europe for the races. They give me time to become a champion.

 

"This is a very important win for my career, I think this is my biggest win since my success in the Tour de l'Avenir in 2014. This is the first time I win a WorldTour race. I'm very motivated and very satisfied with my Astana team that give me confidence and that allow me to gradually grow as a rider .”

 

"It 'been a very tough race with a lot of rain and very cold,” said sporting director Dmitri Sedoun. “We have success in nine stages and in the end we won.”

 

Jarlinson Pantano: I must be dreaming

“I dedicate this victory to my family and everyone at IAM Cycling,” Jarlinson Pantano said after winning the sprint in the final stage of the 2016 Tour de Suisse.

 

“I must be dreaming because on the descent I had no feeling in my hands. They were frozen. Then I gave everything because I remembered my last victory happened on the same day. That was five years ago, already, where I won a stage of the Tour of Colombia on June 19, 2011.”

 

“This morning, we went again to recon the descent of the Fluela and final in Davos with Marcello Albasini and Rik Verbrugghe,” Pantano continued. “I had no specific plan, but when we arrived in the resort town, I knew I had to try something. The guys responded to a little acceleration I gave, so I focused in on the sprint. I decided to go with 250 meters remaining, and simply gave it everything I had. I am the happiest man right now to be able to give the team such a success in these difficult times. In spite of losing Mathias Frank to illness, we have fulfilled our objectives, which were to win a stage and take a place in the top-5.”

 

By winning the last stage, which was shortened because of the rain and cold, Jarlinson Pantano also managed to climb another position in the overall standings, and ended the race in 4th place.



 

Rik Verbrugghe, sports manager for IAM Cycling, said:

 

“Jarlinson Pantano rode a perfect race, along with the rest of the team. I was convinced that this stage with its difficult profile and finale, would suit his capabilities. The guys managed to place him well ahead of the Fluela climb. Then Jarlinson climbed it listening to his body, and when he was able to rejoin the lone leader on the descent, I had a good feeling. It was just important not to let Rui Costa bridge back up to this group. I knew his speed would win out within such a group of riders.”

 

Martin Elmiger, the road Captain of the only Swiss World Tour team and hailing from Zug, was able to defend his jersey for the Best Swiss rider of his national tour.

 

Runner-up Ion Izagirre: These one-week stage races suit me really well

Ion Izagirre crowned another day to remember for the Movistar Team. After the Blues' domination in the Route du Sud, with Nairo Quintana and Marc Soler completing a one-two overall, the Basque allrounder -who had presented his candidacy to GC success with Saturday's time trial victory - fought for everything today at an eventful mountain showdown to close the Tour de Suisse with a third-place stage finish and second in the final overall classification.

 

Extreme weather on the top of the Albulapass forced race organisers to apply the UCI protocol for such a situation, shortening the route on stage nine to just 57km from La Punt - 25km of false flat and slight descents and the long Flüelapass (HC) as only climb of the day - to the unchanged finish venue in Davos. The squad directed by Jaimerena and Laguía made a strong gamble with Winner Anacona and Jorge Arcas in the early splits, before the Colombian escorted Izagirre to the top of Flüelapass. Then, as Miguel Ángel López (AST) kept building a strong gap, Izagirre started pushing on his own.

 

An excellent descent from the younger of the Izagirre brothers made him reach the race leader with 7km from the finish line. From that point and until the very finish, he didn't stop pushing so Talansky (CPT) and Barguil (TGA) could be left behind. His attitude was the perfect summary to a Tour de Suisse where he knew how to make up his least strong days, like Carì (stage 5) and the 'hell' of the Rettenbach glacier (stage 7), to claim his third 2016 stage race podium and the sixth UCI WorldTour top-3 finish, including the Tour de Pologne (2013-14-15), País Vasco (2015) and Romandie (2016). He now sits in sixth place in the UCI standings, as the Movistar Team gets back to second, 72 points short of leaders Tinkoff.

 

Ion Izagirre said:

 

“Following my win in yesterday's TT, there was so much pressure to finish things off well today and take this podium finish. We knew that it would be difficult, as the shortened route would make the pace even more intense. We had to keep focus on many rivals, all of them good climbers, but fortunately, it went well for me - that second place overall is a good prize to come home with.

 

"The organisers decided to scrap that first climb (Albulapass), and the stage became like another time trial. The only tactics here was holding on and riding as close to the fore as possible. Miguel Ángel López, van Garderen and Pantano were climbing strong, but soon I got my legs rolling better and better. I could close the gap in the downhill and confirm my second place.

 

"Things are going tremendously well in this first part of the season. I know that these one-week stage races, with some time trialling and not-to-steep climbs, suit me perfectly well, I prepare for them the best I can, and my morale is high after seeing the results I've got since February.

 

“Now we'll be racing the Spanish Championships; it will depend on how it's all going next week to see if I can make the Tour roster or not. If I do, I just hope I can help Nairo all the way to the final podium.

 

”We're now three Movistar riders in the top-ten of the WorldTour - Nairo, Alejandro and myself - and that's a very good thing for us as a whole. Yesterday's Marc [Soler] win is another good sign that things are going well overall for the team - let's hope it continues so."

 

Breakthrough result for Sergei Chernetckii at the Tour de Suisse

Weather once again played a part in the 80th Tour de Suisse, this time causing the final stage to be reduced by more than half, resulting in a 57,3 km stage in Davos. Team Katusha’s Sergei Chernetckii was attentive and active in the shortened stage, and came to the final to try for the victory. It was a second place for the 26-year old Russian rider on Sunday, a good result on a difficult day. For the classification, Chernetckii entered the top ten, while teammate Simon Špilak retained his ninth position. Team Katusha earned the title of best team overall.

 

“Honestly, in the end I was totally frozen and in the sprint I could not stand up on my legs. So, I did all I could and second place is a nice result for me. Of course, it would be great to win, but I did my maximum today. I felt good on the climb where we worked for Simon, but when he dropped, I tried to follow the leaders. I am happy to enter top-10 in the general classification. It will give me more motivation and confidence in myself,” said Sergei Chernetckii.

 

Simon Spilak: Of course I expected more from this race

Despite a strong effort from Simon Špilak on the climb up the Flüela Pass, it wasn’t to be his day and once he dropped back with nothing more to give, Chernetckii was free to go, making the most of his opportunity to take second by only half a wheel in a reduced sprint.

 

“In the beginning I felt good. The team supported me and prepared everything for an attack. So I attacked and it was a good moment. But later the pace of the group was too fast. After the attack of López I tried to follow them and later I paid for this. On the descent I tried to come back and to save my top-10 position and I succeeded. Of course, I expected more from this race, but I know I did my best,” said 2015 champion Simon Špilak.

 

Simon Špilak stayed in ninth place and teammate Sergei Chernetckii was moved from 11th to tenth place.

 

“We spent a very tough week here in Switzerland. We came here with some ambitions and a strong team. And we proved it, winning the team's classification. It is really nice. All of the guys stayed together and were supporting each other. With Simon we had some good days and he was improving day by day, but the last two days were not super for him. He still finished 9th and this is not bad. Also we have Sergei Chernetckii in 10th position and he showed himself very well. Also today he was close to a stage victory and did a strong stage. Matvey Mamykin and Jhonatan Restrepo have earned valuable experience and I am happy for them,” said team director Torsten Schmidt.

 

Warren Barguil sets sights on white jersey after maiden WorldTour podium in Switzerland

After the climb, Warren Barguil was in the chasing group. It was a brilliant ride in the descent from him to catch the leaders in the finale as he raced to seventh place. In the general classification, he moved up to third place to cap off a superb week of racing from the Frenchman.

 

Giant-Alpecin coach Morten Bennekou said:

 

“We are all very happy here in the Tour de Suisse today. It is a big accomplishment for Warren to finish on the podium. Also as a team, in general, it is a big result which is based on hard work of a lot of people. Warren really deserves this after showing a lot of dedication and work since the training accident in January.”

 

After the stage, Warren Barguil said:

 

“It was a hard day and the stage was too short for me as I prefer longer stages. The guys was doing a perfect lead-out on the climb and I remained calm in the bunch. I was not feeling so great and at the top, I had a gap so I a closed my nice wind vest from Etxeondo and made a sprint down the descent to rejoin the leaders.

 

“I managed to do a good descent with Rui Costa, he was not passing every time and I think it would have been possible to catch the group maybe before. It was still a good performance and I’m proud of my teammates and of me over the week of racing. It is my best result so far in a WorldTour race and I think this year I have taken a big step forward in my development.”

 

"It's a pity it was not a longer stage. It was a bit too short for me, like the time trials. I was not great on the climb and I made a mistake at the top to go through as the last of the group. There was a gap. I took the time to close my raincoat without removing my cuffs, and Rui Costa took off. I made a sprint to catch him and we did a great descent. He did not work at first but towards the end he helped me to return to the group. If we had caught them earlier, I think he would have won the sprint but I moved into third overall and it is already very good. Especially since many riders have suffered today.”

 

"This is a very good result, especially after one and a half month without racing,” he told L’Equipe. “This validates the work done in training. There's the disappointment of losing the yellow jersey but also the satisfaction of having very good legs and to have reached a new level in the mountains. I'll take a good rest before the French Championship and the Tour looks good. The white jersey is a big goal and it requires a good general classification.”

 

Tejay van Garderen: I’ve learned a few lessons from this race

Tejay van Garderen broke clear with four riders to chase down eventual winner Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro cycling) on the decent, before battling it out in a sprint for the stage win. Van Garderen crossed the line in fifth which was enough to bump him up to sixth place on the General Classification.

 

Tejay van Garderen said:

 

“Today was a really intense and nervous day. When you have that short of a stage you never have a moment of down time. Actually I think it would be interesting if every now and then in a race they had a stage like that. You actually get to see how the breakaway is formed which is a part of racing that people don’t really get to understand. It would be cool to have this more often.

 

“I had confidence from how I was climbing the other days but Lopez was really strong out there. I couldn’t even hold his wheel so we had to pull him back on the descent. I was trying to play it there for the sprint but the other guys were a bit too quick. My legs were a little bit frozen. But I’m definitely with how the day went.

 

“I showed some good days here and I learned a few things that I can take away for the Tour de France, in particular the colder days. There were a couple of little mistakes here and there but it’s better to work it out now than in July. Now it’s all about resting and staying healthy until July.”

 

Sports director Fabio Baldato said:

 

“We have finished the Tour de Suisse well. Today Tejay was attacking, he showed that he has the morale and the legs. We are leaving the Tour de Suisse confident. If you take out the bad day that Tejay had when he lost time, then it was a great race for him. We won two big stages, with Darwin Atapuma and the queen stage with Tejay, so it was a good week. Now we shift the focus to the Tour de France.”

 

Cannondale: Talansky was the second best but needs to improve his descending

At the end of the day Andrew Talansky finished eighth on the stage and moved to fifth overall to wrap up a hard, wet and cold week of racing in the Swiss Alps.

 

Cannondale sport Director Juanma Garate said:

 

"We were not happy that the stage was shorter, but of course there was nothing we could do about that. We knew Andrew preferred to have a long ride – not a short stage with only one climb. The first part of the climb was really steep, but he did a really nice climb with the help of Joe [Dombrowski].

 

"The weather on top was really extreme. After a few corners on the descent, Andrew lost a little grip and then he lost confidence to go down. It was a long downhill with a lot of wet and rain. If after the second corner you don’t have the confidence, you will lose a lot.

 

"Matti Breschel was our road captain. He has lots of experience and he did a really, really good job. We lost Paddy [Bevin] early because of pain in his knee, but the other seven riders did a really nice job racing for one leader. Every day they were riding good and the results were coming.

 

"Before the TT we thought we can win this race, but Lopez from Astana was super strong in the TT and he confirmed that on the climb today. He was stronger than us. We believe we were the second strongest, but the downhills count in cycling. When you lose time in the downhills you have to figure out how to improve your performace in the downhills. You cannot forget this - you need to use it to improve."

 

Rui Costa: I am on the right track

An impressive performance by Rui Costa in the final stage of the Tour de Suisse gave to Portuguese champion the 6th place in the stage standing and the 7th position in the final general classification.

 

 

 

At the top of the climb, Costa was close to bridging the gap to the leaders but he could not complete the chase, so he reached the summit of the climb in the first chase group.

 

Costa, in his last race wearing the jersey as Portuguese champion, still had enough left to catch the front group with 100 meters to go, too late to take part in the sprint for the stage victory. Costa finished the Tour de Suisse in 7th place, at 2'09".

 

Once again Jan Polanc delivered  a very good performance, which gave him 13th place in the stage at 1'17" and the 15th place in the final general classification.

 

"The original course of the stage was demanding and it became even more intense when it was shortened,” Rui Costa commented. “It was important to be ready to act immediately and my legs supported me in doing so. I'm satisfied with my performance: I attacked, I pushed hard and I fought, my legs used all the energy and they brought me to the front group 100 meters from the finish. I could not sprint for the stage victory, however I'm satisfied with the 7th place in the final general classification. I'm on the right track, I can work with morale for the next appointment.

”the seventh place overall, despite the very hard course for this year’s edition of the Tour of Switzerland, was good. It gives me a good indication about my condition and gives me moral to look to the next objective.I am also happy to have honored the jersey of the Portuguese champion until the last race.”

 

Wilco Kelderman: It’s a shame to finish 8th when you had the jersey one day

Wilco Kelderman of LottoNL-Jumbo finished eighth in the 80th Tour de Suisse today. Miguel Ángel López (Astana) won ahead of Ion Izagirre (Movistar) and Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin). Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) succeeded in the final stage. Wilco Kelderman placed 16th.

 

"It was not really good today, on the climb I could not follow the favourites," Kelderman said. "In the downhill, I remained in the group. It is unfortunate to finish eighth when you had the leader's jersey for one day, I've had good days and bad ones. I finished on a good note, though."

 

Because of bad weather, the stage was shortened by 60 kilometres to 57. That led to a quick start to the foot of the climb.

 

"In the beginning, the team worked well for Kelderman and put him in the right spot at the foot of the climb,” said Sports Director Frans Maassen. "On the climb, Kelderman was dropped from the group. On the descent and on the flat, he managed to limit the damage. "

 

“It was a special day, in the morning the weather was already bad," added Kelderman. "It was a good decision that the race was shortened. It was very cold and wet on the other climb. Whether it was an advantage or disadvantage, I do not know. It was hard from the start, and on the climb, I couldn’t follow the best."

 

"Unfortunately, no stage victory, but we still look back with satisfaction," Maassen said. "Tom Van Asbroeck placed fourth and Wilco Kelderman had the lead. Kelderman also managed to show that his time trial is good.”

 

“We were unlucky at the start with the weather and of course, with the crash of Gesink. But then the team has nice things to show."

 

Kelderman has his sights now on the Tour de France.

 

"The next few days, I'm going to take care of myself well and recover. I'm leaving here with a good feeling. Wednesday, I do the Dutch Championship time trial and after that, I will continue training. The focus is now on the Tour de France. "

 

Victor De La Parte confirms his potential at WorldTour level

The highest ranked “rider in orange”, Victor de la Parte was not only able to keep up the pace of the strongest, but also attacked himself. He crested the top in 2nd place, only behind race leader, Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), who reached the summit alone, with some gap over the chasers.

 

On the wet and slippery descent, the Spaniard lost contact with the leaders, but still managed to finish in the top 10. He was 9th and secured 11th place in the final general classification (6:38 behind).

 

CCC Sprandi Polkowice not only took home 11th place in GC and Maciej Paterski’s podium spot in one of the stages, but also 4th in the teams classification.

 

Dimension Data: Natnael Berhane was in good company at the Tour de Suisse

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka would once again protect Natnael Berhane during the stage with Tyler Farrar and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg doing some excellent work to position the Eritrean Champion at the head of the peloton.

 

As soon as the climb started the race exploded, Janse van Rensburg was able to stick with Berhane for the first few kilometers before Berhane then had to follow the wheels of all the favourites. When Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing) put in the first real attack from peloton, Berhane was straight onto the wheel and they formed a group of 5 riders at the head of the race. Astana, in their bid to protect the overall race lead, kept the pace high in the peloton and brought back Berhane and company quite quickly.

 

In the end, Berhane's group came flying into Davos 1'17" behind the stage winner with the Eritrean star crossing the finish line 12th on the stage. Thanks to his solid final performance, Berhane moved up 2 places on the overall classification to finish the Tour de Suisse in 18th on GC.

 

Sports director Jens Zemke said:

 

“It was nice to have a good end to the Tour de Suisse with Natnael doing a fantastic job to come 12th during a stage where they had the most horrible conditions you could imagine. It was 2 degrees, with a mixture of rain and snow and it was absolutely horrible. Natnael moved up from 20th to 18th so chapeau to him and the small team we had here for the final 3 days. With these 4 riders we made the best out of the situation, as what we could. If you look at Natnael's top 20 result, Geraint Thomas was just ahead and Frank Schleck behind, he was in good company. We can be proud of the boys, fighting as an African Team in these tough conditions.”

 

Verva-ActiveJET climber sets sights on Tour of Poland after breakthrough in Switzerland

Pawel Cieslik from VERVA ActiveJet Team finished in 15th place. In the general classification he was 14th.

 

For a long time, Cieslik rode in the main group of favorites. He lost some time on the descent and eventually arrived in 15th place.

 

“We did a very good race and we have nothing to be ashamed of. I thank the whole team for their support. Without the help from the teammates, this result would not have been possible. Tour de Suisse was a very important race because we wanted to see what we could do at the level of the World Tour, after the not very successful race in Catalonia. This proved that we are able to take on the fight against the big names and the Tour the Pologne will confirm this,” said Cieslik. 

 

Sky: Geraint Thomas had a really bad day

Sport Director Gabriel Rasch praised a strong team performance from Sky at the end of the Tour de Suisse.

 

Geraint Thomas fell out of the top 10 and slipped to 17th overall after a tough final day in Switzerland when, despite the stage being shortened to 57 kilometres because of bad weather, the race was blown apart.

 

The race organisers kept the hors categorie Fluelapass in the amended route and it quickly whittled the field down, with only a select group going on to do battle for the win.

 

David Lopez launched a strong attack 25km from home but he wasn't able to stay away as the ferocious pace increased.

 

Rasch admitted to TeamSky.com that Geraint Thomas endured a hard day in Switzerland, but he picked out several strong individual performances across the week.

 

He said: "G had a really bad day. He was super cold on the top of that mountain and when he knew he couldn't follow the guys and he didn't have anything to fight for he just got to the finish in his own time.

 

”All of the guys did well this week and tried really hard for G. That was the plan and everyone gave up their own ambitions to do that. G was just lacking that final 10% to be up there.

 

"Michal [Golas] was really, really good, he did all the ground work together with Christian [Knees], Kiry has shown he's extremely strong on his good days, and he was also climbing super well this week."

 

Leopold König didn't take to the start in Switzerland this afternoon after waking up with a sore throat, but the Czech star rode well, particularly impressing on the stage eight time trial.

 

Rasch added: "Leo has been better day-by-day. This morning he had a sore throat and he and the doctor decided he wouldn't start to try and stay healthy, but he will be better and better for every race he does now. Ian Boswell did the Giro, and he was probably a little tired after that, but he did a good job here, had some really strong days, and showed how talented he is once again."

 

Trek: We knew that our riders couldn’t do anything in this weather

The scheduled 117-kilometer stage nine was shortened to 57 kilometers, a result of poor weather, and the brief parcours held only one, albeit big, obstacle: the 12.7-kilometer Flüela Pass.

 

When the flag dropped, the peloton jumped into action with riders desperate to be in the day's breakaway, but the shortened parcours left little wiggle room to create a breakaway with a solid gap ahead of the long uphill.

 

Jasper Stuyven waited and timed his move to escape with two others after seven kilometers, but a reluctant peloton kept the rope tight to the three escapees; the elastic did not snap until 12 kilometers later.

 

With only eight kilometers remaining until the bottom of the climb, the trio slowly extended their small gap to 50 seconds, but it was not enough ahead of the tough 12-kilometer ascent. Even though Stuyven jumped away from his compatriots and set off solo, it was futile, and the peloton soon overtook him.

 

"I think, first of all, it was a really good decision by the organization to shorten the stage," said director Kim Andersen. "They had a really nice race, full gas. I knew that with this weather on the climb and long downhill that it was not really good for us, so I asked the riders to go and just have fun. I really liked what I saw from Jasper, to go out in the break and pull until he was finally caught. It was fantastic."

 

Once caught, Stuyven eased off his effort, leaving the team's climbers, Fränk Schleck and Peter Stetina, to finish the rest.

 

Schleck and Stetina climbed strongly with the elite GC favorites group until the big attacks began five kilometers from the top. The accelerations quickly whittled the group to a select three leaders and nine chasers, 20 seconds behind.

 

It was an uphill slog under rainy conditions, but it was the wet, cold and treacherous descent that wreaked the most havoc in the leading group. Only seven riders arrived at the finish to contest the stage where Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) won the sprint, and Miguel Lopez (Astana) secured the overall.

 

Schleck crossed the line in 24th and Stetina in 28th, both riders finishing off a tough nine days with strong climbs.

 

"Fränk finished quite well, and I am happy to see that the riders that are more or less in the Tour team have shown they are in a good way," continued Andersen. "For sure we did not achieve what we wanted in the Tour de Suisse, but with this weather… I am honest that I knew with this weather conditions all week that we would not be able to achieve more than we did. It's not an excuse – everyone has the same conditions here – but I know my riders, and that's how it is.

 

"We had one bad day where we lost three minutes and the only day when I was a little bit disappointed in their performances. Otherwise, they did well and showed good morale the whole tour. They did the best they could with what we had and under these conditions. It was a nice race; we made it through safely and in good health, and we are looking forward to having a good Tour de France."

 

In-form Maximilano Richeze makes history at the Tour de Suisse

This year's Tour de Suisse has been a long, hard and rainy race, but Etixx – Quick-Step ended it on a high, with Maximiliano Richeze making one more visit to the podium at the end of the ninth and final day in order to don the black jersey, which rewarded his incredible consistency. Not only that Richeze has won a stage – the last one suited to the sprinters – but he also featured in three other stages, including the second summit finish, in Amden, where he came second, after being in the day-long break.

 

The first Argentinian stage winner since the inception of the Tour de Suisse, Richeze is also the first South American rider to top the points classification, making of this race one of the most successful in his career. On the final stage of the World Tour event (Davos – Davos), shortened by the organizers to just 57 kilometers due to poor weather on the hors catégorie Albulapass, Richeze was prominent at the front, taking the intermediate sprint in order to mathematically win the black jersey, and then going in the break, where he was joined by Magnus Cort (Orica-GreenEdge) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).

 

In the black jersey standings, Richeze had a total of 56 points, a tally more than double than the one of the next placed rider, and to take the win ahead of many big names, while proving great form, left him extremely happy on Sunday:

 

"It was the last stage and I tried to honour the jersey by going into the breakaway. I'm glad to have won this jersey, especially as it's the first time that I take the points classification in a World Tour event. I want to thank the team for their trust and for supporting me. We had a really nice and unforgettable week, and this result comes as a reward for the effort of the entire team."

 

Besides Maximiliano Richeze's stage win in Champagne and the points jersey, Etixx – Quick-Step concluded the final World Tour race of June with three more podiums and one top 10 finish. Since the start of the season, the team has amassed 30 victories and 37 top 3 placings.

 

Orica-GreenEDGE: We were a bit out of our league in the mountains

Sam Bewley was the highest place finisher for Orica-GreenEDGE on the stage wrapping up a solid nine day's of racing for the team.

 

Sport director Neil Stephens was happy with the overall team performance during the challenging nine-day race.

 

"The stage was shortened today because of the weather," explained Stephens. "It was still a hard fast stage with a mountain pass and cold conditions at the top.

 

”Magnus Cort was aggressive early on and got into an early move before the climb. The rest of the guys got through the day today with view of looking ahead to the races coming up.

 

”In general the whole tour panned out as we thought, the first few stages were pretty successful for us and the other stages we were a bit out of our league in the mountains, but overall a good solid week of racing from the guys."

Orica-GreenEDGE wrap up the nine days of racing with a successful start including a third place with Durbridge in the prologue followed by a third on stage one with Matthews and a further two top ten placings on stage four and eight with Cort and Matthews.

 

Aggressive Antwan Tolhoek wins mountains jersey in Switzerland

Antwan Tolhoek has finally secured the victory in the mountain classification of the Tour de Suisse. The young Roompot - Orange Peloton rider successfully defended his leading position which he has had since the third stage. By conquering the blue 'King of the Mountains' jersey, Tolhoek got his second victory in a mountains classification. Last year, he at the Tour de Bretaagne.

 

"It is great to do this in a World Tour race," the 22-year-old said. "It's a great reward for myself and for the aggressive riding style of our team. But I hope that people think I'm a good climber now. The jersey obviously had a lot to do with our way of riding. If you have to ride the finales, it becomes a lot more difficult," said Tolhoek who was realistic about the development that he has to make in his cycling career.

 

In addition to the mountains jersey by the son of former pro Patrick and the stage victory for Pieter Weening, the team of Erik Breukink and Jean-Paul van Poppel also displayed offensive tactics. Tolhoek went on the attack no less than five times and also Huub Duijn and Michel Kreder wer in escapes.

 

"The organizer came to congratulate me and gave our team a compliment. They thanked us for our aggression. Hopefully Roompot - Orange Peloton can return here next year because this Swiss race is truly a beautiful race".

 

As 54th, Huub Duijn was the best representative of the orange team in the overall standings.

 

There was good news on the final day as Maurits Lammertink was released from the hospital in Basel. Since the second stage, the winner of the Tour de Luxembourg has stayed at the University Clinic of Basel and he can now work on his recovery at home. 

 

Peter Sagan ends record-breaking Tour de Suisse on quiet note

As the GC contenders made the most of the shorter day to put all their energy into the only climb of the parcours, the Tinkoff riders could reflect on a race where the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, had won two stages and established a record in stage wins at the Swiss race.

 

One of the shortest days of this year’s Tour de Suisse was made even shorter today, due to dangerous snowy weather conditions in the earlier parts of the stage. Snow and poor visibility at the top of the Albulapass forced the race organise to start the stage from La Punt, meaning the day would be much shorter, with only 57km to ride. The stage still took in the difficult Flüelapass on the route however, and it was straight into the 13km climb soon after the flag dropped.

From the finish, Sport Director, Patxi Vila, gave some insight into how the decision was made.

 

“We met this morning with the UCI, the race director and others and decided that going through the whole stage would be too much as the weather was pretty bad and there have already been several rough days so far. There was snow on the climbs and the weather was hard so the stage was shortened and for us there was not too much to do with it being based on a climb.”

 

 

With the GC riders across the line and the race’s outcome confirmed, Vila was clear on the team’s aims for the day.

 

“We just wanted to make sure that we got to the finish and left the race with the best preparation ahead of the nationals and the Tour for those that are going. Bodi [Maciej Bodnar]didn't start the stage so that he could have an extra recovery day ahead of the Polish time trial championships on Wednesday.”

 

Peter Sagan could look back on a race well-contested and well-ridden by the team. Starting his race campaign with a win on stage 2, the UCI World Champion took his tally of wins to twelve, breaking the record for the most stage wins in the race. Not content with having taken twelve, Sagan won the following day’s stage too, also earning him the race’s yellow jersey. Supported well by the team, who had ridden hard to get him in position, this was excellent preparation for the coming Tour de France.

 

With the week at a close, Vila could look back on the race’s successes and see this was a good Tour de Suisse performance.

 

“When we made the performance plan for this race, our goal was to win one of the first three stages and then do a good time trial – we ended up winning two of the three and Bodi did a good time trial yesterday, so overall we have to be happy as we've achieved our goals.”

 

At the day’s close, Sagan had also leapfrogged teammate Alberto Contador to take the top spot of the UCI WorldTour rankings. With a successful season to date, all the signs are pointing to an exciting and spectacular Tour de France.