Tour de Suisse: Stage 7

Simon Špilak solos the final 8km to win stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse and take the yellow jersey with two days to go

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Tour de Suisse: Stage 7

Katusha Press Release

After steadily gaining ground in the days leading up to stage 7 in the 81st Tour de Suisse, Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’S Simon Špilak used his team to perfection on Friday to strike out for the stage win and the race lead.

Photo  (c) Tim De Waele

With precision help from teammate Rein Taaramäe at the start of the 12k climb on the Tiefenbach glacier to make the race hard and distance the others, Špilak struck out solo with 8k remaining to take the victory on the 166.3k stage.

In the process, the Slovenian rider earned the yellow leader’s jersey in an effort to repeat his 2015 victory in the Suisse tour. “Immediately from the start this morning, I felt that I had good legs. Yesterday it was 30 degrees, but today it was 20 and this is better for me. We had a plan for today and the team was so good. Not to perform well was not an option. (Baptiste) Planckaert and (Jhonatan) Restrepo went with the early break while the others stayed with me to keep me out of the wind. Taaramäe was getting our drinks and then at the end he was still with me on the final climb and did a great job,” said Simon Špilak.

Simon’s effort produced a solo win by 22-seconds to Ion Izagirre (Bahrain Merida) and 36-seconds to Cannondale-Drapac’s Joe Dombrowski. For the general classification, Špilak holds 52-seconds to Damiano Caruso (BMC) and 1:05 to Steven Kruijswijk of Team LottoNL-Jumbo. Former leader Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondial) lost more than two minutes.
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“With 7-8k to go, I dropped Rein and Joe Dombrowski. Maybe that was too far from the finish, but what else could I do? I had to take the jersey for my team. Now it is 52-seconds to Caruso and more than one minute to Kruijswijk. Tomorrow is a sprinter’s stage so we should be able to control that and then a long TT on the last day. And yes, I am not so bad in the TT,” concluded race leader Simon Špilak.

Damiano Caruso (2nd on GC): “The climb was really long and steep. From the bottom to the very top, it was an incredible tempo, especially at first when the Team Katusha – Alpecin guys were setting the pace. Simon Ŝpilak was the strongest today, and I tried to follow him, but it was too much for me. I decided to keep my tempo until the finish and then I gave it everything. I am happy because I couldn’t ask any more of myself today.”

“Ŝpilak is a very strong time trial rider as well, but you never know what can happen. There’s still one more big effort to go before the end of the race. Tomorrow I will try to recover and then on Sunday, I will give it everything.”

Ion Izagirre: “Today was another hard day” comments Izagirre “My team made a very good job. We put Tsgabu in the breakaway and in the peloton the other guys worked very well for me to keep a good position at the beginning of the climb with Gaspa and Cink. At the end I finished 2nd. Again near to victory. I feel better day by day and it’s important ahead of the Tour de France. I hope next days to do a good job as in the last time-trial”.

Stage 7
1. Simon Špilak, Team Katusha – Alpecin
2. Ion Izagirre, Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 0:22
3. Joe Dombrowski, Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team 0:36
4. Damiano Caruso, BMC Racing Team 1:04
5. Steven Kruijswijk, Team LottoNL-Jumbo
6. Jan Hirt, CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:07
7. Rein Taaramäe, Team Katusha – Alpecin 1:33
8. Mikel Nieve, Team Sky 1:47
9. Rui Costa, UAE Team Emirates 1:53
10. Pello Bilbao, Astana Pro Team 2:40

11. Mathias Frank, AG2R La Mondiale
12. Domenico Pozzovivo, AG2R La Mondiale
23. Tao Geoghegan Hart, Team Sky 5:14

Overall
1. Simon Špilak Team Katusha – Alpecin
2. Damiano Caruso BMC Racing Team 0:52
3. Steven Kruijswijk Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:05
4. Domenico Pozzovivo AG2R La Mondiale 2:28
5. Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates 2:35
6. Mathias Frank AG2R La Mondiale 2:51
7. Mikel Nieve Team Sky 2:54
8. Ion Izagirre Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 3:51
9. Marc Soler Movistar Team 4:07
10. Pello Bilbao Astana Pro Team 4:10
11. Víctor De La Parte Movistar Team 6:35
12. Valerio Conti UAE Team Emirates 7:07
13. Patrick Konrad BORA – hansgrohe 7:35
14. Tao Geoghegan Hart Team Sky 8:47

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