Tour de Suisse: Stage 5

Win number 14 for World Champion Peter Sagan in the Tour de Suisse, Doull 10th on stage and Tao Geoghegan Hart on GC

Tour de Suisse: Stage 5

BORA – hansgrohe Press Release

Going into the race with the record number of stage wins, the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, has taken a victory at each of the past seven editions of the Tour de Suisse. Having been narrowly beaten in the earlier stages, the Slovak BORA-hansgrohe rider made it count today, leaving his rivals in his wake in a win that made it look easy, earning him the stage victory and the race’s black points jersey. Peter adds to his tally of wins, extending his own record, with his total now standing at fourteen.

Press Conference

After the first mountain stage of the Tour de Suisse, it was back to a hilly stage for today’s 222km route. However, only a race like the Tour de Suisse could include an Hors Catégorie climb on a stage classed as ‘hilly’. The Simplonpass dominated the stage profile, with 100km of the stage clocked up before the race even started to climb, and while teams would have a fast and furious descent to make up time before a relatively flat run to the finish, there would be no guarantee that the sprinters would be in a position – or a condition – to contest the flat finale.

As the Tour de Suisse’s longest stage, for a breakaway to last the entire distance, the group would have to be made up of the right sorts of riders. While attack after attack came, the breaks were reeled back as quickly as they were able to form.

With 70km raced, a group finally made their escape, with six riders making their way up the road and rapidly building up a two minute advantage, before topping out at six minutes. This was before the major climb of the day, however, and while the break managed to hold the peloton at bay, it was less than four minutes slower to the summit of the Simplonpass, having reduced the gap by more than two minutes.

Hitting the final 50km, the break shed one of its number – the relentless pace tiring them out. If the distance wasn’t draining enough, after four days of blazing sunshine, the skies opened and drenched the riders to the bone in a demoralising torrent of rain. Three more of the break dropped away, leaving just two to push on ahead, but with the peloton upping the pace with the scent of the finish line in the air, a sprint looked increasingly likely.

With 6km remaining, it was all back together, with the BORA-hansgrohe riders having put in a huge effort to pull in the break’s thirty-second advantage in just a few minutes. The teams battling amongst themselves for position, the peloton was stretched out as riders struggled to hold on, with none of the sprinters able to keep their trains with them, such was the pace.

With 250m to go and the UCI World Champion dived down the left with an incredible effort that left the bunch in his wake – a huge gap forming behind him, giving him enough time to check over his shoulder, before taking his first win of the 2017 Tour de Suisse with a suitably showy celebration and his 14th in the race, extending his record of stage wins. … continued after advert

Moments after the finish, Peter was doubling back to thank his BORA-hansgrohe teammates for their hard efforts today. He explained how important their role was from the finish. “I’m very happy for this victory because the BORA-hansgrohe riders really sacrificed themselves today. We went all in at the end of the stage and my teammates got me to the finish.”

“I’m so happy with this win – it was very good for the team and I couldn’t have done it without them. It took a little while to get this win – the first road stage was a little mad, with attacks and a really hectic finish, then two days ago it was a good finish but I’d put in a big effort before to get up the final climb. Today was really good for me though. There was a bit of rain but I felt much better in the end and managed to keep my head in the finale.”

Damiano Caruso (Yellow jersey): “The start was really fast, and many riders tried to make it into the breakaway so, it took over 70km for the final breakaway to form. The pace was really high. I think we were going at around 50km/h for the first two hours. We were then setting a good tempo on the long climb before the second part of the race which was pretty technical especially the descent. The guys did a really amazing job to keep me in a good position and in the end, I finished safe. For me, that was the most important thing.”

“I think I was able to manage how I used my energy today. It was important for me to stay focussed and stay safe but, even though it was a long stage, I don’t think I expended too much unnecessary energy. “Tomorrow is the second test for us and for me in particular. It is another hard stage, another summit finish. We will see what happens, but I feel good.”

It’s going to be an incredibly hard 167km of racing tomorrow. Two Hors Catégorie mountains dominate the stage profile, with the climbing starting from the drop of the flag. First comes the San Bernadino Pass, before a gruelling ascent of the Albulapass to the finish. There’s nowhere to hide on a stage like this, and this will be a day when the GC race really comes to life.

Stage 5
1. Peter Sagan BORA – hansgrohe
2. Michael Albasini ORICA-Scott
3. Matteo Trentin Quick-Step Floors
4. Patrick Bevin Cannondale-Drapac
5. Niccolo Bonifazio Bahrain Merida
6. Michael Matthews Team Sunweb
7. Sacha Modolo UAE Team Emirates
8. Oscar Gatto Astana Pro Team
9. Aaron Gate Aqua Blue Sport
10. Owain Doull Team Sky

12. John Degenkolb Trek – Segafredo
32. Tao Geoghegan Hart Team Sky
86. Hugh Carthy Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team @ 22
155. Conor Dunne Aqua Blue Sport 12.02
163. Jonathan Dibben Team Sky 27:50

Overall
1. Damiano Caruso BMC Racing Team
2. Steven Kruijswijk Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:16
3. Domenico Pozzovivo AG2R La Mondiale 0:25
4. Simon Špilak Team Katusha – Alpecin
5. Marc Soler Movistar Team 0:32
6. Mathias Frank AG2R La Mondiale 0:34
7. Mikel Nieve Team Sky 1:10
8. Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates 1:11
9. Valerio Conti UAE Team Emirates 1:21
10. Tao Geoghegan Hart Team Sky 1:38

46. Hugh Carthy Cannondale-Drapac 13:59