In a thrilling finale, Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education – Easypost) claimed the stage win. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) had the lead but was caught a few hundred metres before the finish. His brother Fabio Christen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) finished in second place.
The attacks on this 177 kilometre stage to Schwarzsee began immediately after the start in Aarau. The three-man breakaway of Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) and Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché – Wanty) managed to distance themselves from the field. While Silvan Dillier was swallowed up by the peloton with around 50 kilometres to go, the other two made it through to the final sprint prize.
Not long thereafter, Jonas Rutsch faded and Mauro Schmid found himself on his own. The Swiss rider took the last KOM honours before also bowing out of the contest. Nevertheless, with the time spent in the breakaway he was voted the most combative rider of the day.
Romain Gregoire retains the yellow leader’s jersey
The next Swiss rider tried his luck with around two and a half kilometres left in the stage. Following his painful crash yesterday, Jan Christen made a bold move and pulled away from the field by around ten seconds. Unfortunately, he was caught with just under a kilometre remaining, missing out on a Swiss stage win. In the ultimate sprint, 28-year-old Vincenzo Albanese claimed the biggest triumph of his career to date, ahead of Fabio Christen and Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ).
Today’s stage had no major impact on the General Classification. Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) defends the yellow jersey. 25 seconds behind him is Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and another 2 seconds behind are Bart Lemmen (Team Visma | Lease A Bike) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team). Matteo Badilatti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) is still the best Swiss rider in the General Classification in 14th place, 1:37 minutes behind.
