Lopez Wins Tour De Suisse
The 2016 edition of the Tour de Suisse provided plenty of drama and action as the riders battled it out in the countryside of Switzerland. There were seven different riders who wore the yellow jersey over the course of the nine day race this year, which made for an exciting finish in the final stages of the race.
Stage 1
The race opened with a 6.4 km prologue on June 12th. It was a rain-filled day at the start of the Prologue, which made it harder for the riders with early start times. However, the conditions did not seem to impact Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara. His effort on the day won him the Prologue, which was much to the delight of the Swiss fans. It was a great win for Cancellara in the last Tour de Suisse appearance of his career.
Stage 2
It was unfavourable weather again for the riders on Sunday. There were multiple crashes which hampered a couple of riders. One of those riders was sprinter Fernando Gaviria, who had a legitimate chance of winning the stage. He was essentially out of contention with the crash. Another rider in difficulty was GC rider Andrew Talansky, but some great work by his team-mates helped him avoid any time loss.
It all came down to a sprint in the end. Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews, and Max Richeze battled it out on the home stretch, and in the end Sagan came out on top. The world champion showed his might once again in a big win for Tinkoff.
Unfortunately for Cancellara his time in the yellow jersey came to end in stage two. Jurgen Roelandts took control of the general classification after finishing in fifth place in the sprint.
Stage 3
Sagan was king again in this stage, as he sprinted his way to as second consecutive stage win. The Slovakian made a brilliant move on the final climb to go on the attack and leave the peloton behind. He then displayed his world class descending skills to catch up to the two breakaway riders.
The three of them made it all the way to the line, and Sagan never looked like he would lose. He out-sprinted Michael Albasini of Orica-Greenedge at the line and gave his team another win. The victory also put him into the leader’s jersey at the end of the day, which meant that there would be a third different leader in the race already.
Stage 4
This stage was another day for the sprinters. It featured a sharp right-hand bend in the last kilometre which made for a tricky finish. It did indeed provide a tight finish, as Richeze won the stage for Etixx Quick-Step in a close finish.
The final sprint almost turned into a disaster as Team Sky sprinter Danny Van Poppel produced a highlight save going into the right-hand bend. He almost took out a large group of riders behind him, which would have certainly ended badly. In the end Sagan hanged on to the leader’s jersey, as he finished in third place.
Stage 5
It was the first day in the mountains on Wednesday. The GC battle was set to shape up in this stage with many riders also eyeing stage glory. The race leader, Sagan, was not interested in defending his jersey, which meant that a fourth leader of the race would emerge from the day’s action.
The early breakaway groups featured a couple of dangerous riders who had the potential to hold off the peloton. Inside the last 10 kilometres things started to heat up. Winner Anacona began the first attacks, but then Natnael Berhane and Darwin Atapuma surged past him and began to launch attacks of their own. Atapuma’s tempo proved to be too much and he was able to stay ahead all the way to the line. It was a big win for the Colombian, after being denied a stage win in the Giro d’Italia.
In the GC battle Warren Barguil came out on top, as he rode his way to a second place finish on the stage. Pierre-Roger Latour finished right behind him in third place. The other riders came though in pairs with small time gaps back to each other. Latour’s efforts on the day paid off for him. He claimed the leader’s jersey at the end of the stage with his impressive ride.
Stage 6
Another breakaway rider found himself celebrating a stage win on Thursday. This time it was Pieter Weening of Team Roompot-Oranje. The Dutchman had a terrific ride to finish off another tough day of racing.
In the GC battle it was Wilco Kelderman’s turn to mix things up. The Lotto NL-Jumbo rider gained time advantages over Barguil, Talanksy, and most importantly Latour. He ended up finishing in fourth place overall on the stage which was good enough to earn him the leader’s jersey heading into stage seven.
For other riders the day was filled with disappointment. Geraint Thomas and Van Garderen lost a significant amount of time, and were essentially out of contention for the leader’s jersey for the remainder of the race.
Stage 7
One day you can be suffering up a climb and the next day you can be winning a stage. That’s how it was for Van Garderen on Friday afternoon, as the American rider rode his way to a stage win in the mountains. He attacked the group of GC riders he was with in the last few kilometres, and never relinquished his lead.
Behind him Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana had a terrific ride, finishing in second place, which moved him up the standings. Barguil and Jarlinson Pantano came across shortly after Lopez,. For the race leader Kelderman it wasn’t a good day. He was dropped early in the climb, which allowed Barguil to take over the yellow jersey at the end of the day.
Stage 8
This stage featured the all-important time-trial which would prove to have major GC implications at the end of the day. The time-trial was won by Jon Izaguirre Insausti of Team Movistar. He had a terrific ride, as he overcame a deficit at the first time check to take the stage.
In the GC battle it was Lopez who had the best day out of all the contenders. His second place finishing time was good enough to earn him the yellow jersey heading into the final day. Talansky also had an impressive ride and only trailed the Argentinian by eight seconds. For Barguil it did not go so good. He slipped all the way down to fourth place.
Stage 9
The final stage of the race was shortened due to weather, which meant that the stage would now only be 57 kilometres. Despite it being a shorter stage the main GC riders were still looking for their opportunity to go on the attack.
The action got started when Astana’s Michele Scarponi caused a split in the peloton early in the climb. He set a hard tempo at the front, and behind him riders were falling off one by one, including Talansky who was in trouble. Lopez recognised this and went on the attack to dwindle the group down even more.
Eventually Lopez was caught, and a group of five riders formed to fight for the stage win in the last kilometres. Multiple times the tempo was picked up in hopes of displacing each other from the group, but in the end it came down to a sprint finish.
Pantano and Sergei Chernetski were the two riders who contested for the win, and in the end Pantano proved to be the better rider. It was a big win for IAM Cycling who had yet to deliver a win for their fans in the race. Lopez finished just behind the pair and confirmed his victory in the general classification.
Barguil and Rui Costa were not far off the lead group, which allowed Barguil to claim a podium spot at the Tour de Suisse for the first time in his career. Izaguirre’s third place finish in the stage allowed him to move into second place in the GC.
All in all the Tour de Suisse was a very interesting race this year. The weather provided unpredictable results every day and the riders were tested even more with a tougher race route. Most importantly this race showed Lopez’s ability and all but confirmed him as one of the best young riders in the world.
