Andreas Leknessund finished his attack in style, celebrating a convincing solo victory in Aesch. His work today also jeopardises the yellow jersey of Stephen Williams. The peloton gave the breakaway considerable freedom for a long time.
Andreas Leknessund is the jubilant winner in Aesch. The Norwegian celebrated his best win to date with great exuberance in the long ride to the finish line. “It’s exactly for days like this that you train all the time. The fact that it worked out today is wonderful. But I was never sure if we could make it. Many riders couldn’t keep up the pace in the last kilometres. That’s why I had to attack”. His attack has put Stephen Williams’ yellow jersey in jeopardy. The Norwegian was only 61 seconds behind in the overall classification before the stage. “I’m very happy that the other teams also pushed. Without this help I would probably have lost my jersey. I’m looking forward to wearing it for another day,” said Williams.
Andreas Leknessund finishes the long breakaway alone
The race took off at a fast and furious pace. It was almost thirty kilometres before a breakaway could form. Five Swiss cyclists joined the charge: Michael Schär, Matteo Badilatti, Joel Suter, Claudio Imhof and Simon Vitzthum. The peloton was slow to react and the gap grew to over six minutes with 50 kilometres to the finish. The Norwegian Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) seized his chance. He attacked his colleagues in the breakaway on the last KOM at the Challpass, shaving 38 seconds on the peloton at the finish. The rest of the breakaway, including the Swiss contingent, were swallowed up by the peloton.
Preview of the next Stage
The Third Stage of the Tour de Suisse starts where it finished in Aesch and ends in Grenchen, after a mountainous loop through the Clos-du-Doubs and the beautiful canton of Jura. For the first time, the cyclists tackle a first-category KOM. However, the 5.5-kilometre-long climb with an average gradient of 8.3 percent Côte au Bouvier in the Jura, is still almost 100 kilometres away from the finish line. The route then undulates to Grenchen.
