The 8th stage in Bellinzona ended in a mass sprint and with the triumph of the French road champion Arnaud Démare.

“For the first time in the Tour de Suisse, a large field crossed the finish line It is a great satisfaction for me to have beaten all the other sprinters. My joy is all the greater because this round trip is a good preparation for the Tour de France”. Démare (GFC/FRA) launched his spurt from the rear wheel of Fernando Gaviria (QST/COL).

In this year’s Pavés classic Paris – Roubaix Démare had suffered badly (61st place). A week later, the Frenchman celebrated that success that no one can take away from him: He got married. “This is my greatest triumph!” the Frenchman tweeted back then.

Now the first of Milan – San Remo (2016) and the 4th Tds stage 2013 (Innertkirchen – Buochs) has reached 49 professional successes.

Peter Sagan (BOH/SVK) did not manage to increase his record number of daily wins (16). The three-time road world champion tackled the mass spurt from a position too bad. “It’s like a game. Sometimes it succeeds, then again it doesn’t,” said Sagan, who as usual is accompanied by a large community of fans. He took comfort in the fact that his 4th place in Bellinzona was the seventh time he won the points classification (Search.ch) of the Tour de Suisse.

The 123.8 km of the Bellinzona circuit could be considered a better training ride for the best of the overall classification. Leader Richie Porte (BMC/AUS) disagreed: “It was hectic and stressful.” Only the 34 km of Sunday’s time trial separate the Australian from the overall victory. For Porte, a dream would come true with this triumph: “After Phil Anderson, I would be the second Australian to win this tour. As a child, I followed his achievements from the screen and dreamed of being able to celebrate such successes one day.”Detail