photo credits @ WTFK
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) won the closing time trial of the Tour de Suisse in Abtwill today, after he clocked the fastest time of 32:25 along the the 25.7 kilometer course that started in St. Gallen.
However, it wasn’t enough for the Spanish rider to claim the overall title, conceding victory to Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) who held on to win by nine seconds.
Skjelmose looked to be out of contention at the first checkpoint, but the Danish rider mounted a comeback on the hilly mid-section of the stage to claw back precious seconds and seize the overall victory.
Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) snagged the final spot on the podium with a time of 32:33 to finish 45 seconds down, as Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) fell from second to eighth with a slow time of 35:51.
“I thought it was possible. I always race to win, and I think even if I had a disadvantage in the skinsuit, I proved that my shape is good and that I’m ready for the Tour. I always believed in this,” Skjelmose said after the stage before paying tribute to Gino Mäder.
“It’s a lot of big emotions. It’s a combination of a lot of sacrifice for me, and of course, Gino is dead, and I think everything combined just made me very emotional. It just needed to come out after the finish line. For me, the most important thing was that Gino’s parents and family wanted the race to go on and for us to race as normal. That put my mind at rest.”
Ayuso said that he had mixed feelings after the stage – winning and losing at the same time, while also thinking of Mäder.
“My feelings are a bit mixed. Of course, not because I won the stage; it’s the second TT win this year, so I’m happy that I keep improving in this type of racing style. The primary goal was to win the GC, and I came second, so it’s a bit of a pity, but Mattias was super strong, and we have to just congratulate him. Of course, I wanted to get the GC to Gino, but also the stage he will be happy for me. Of course, this goes for him. Racing is a bit more on the side. You don’t feel like celebrating. It’s not what comes to you, but I think everybody here gave their best to Gino. Mattias is for sure thinking of him to give the GC for him, and I’m happy to win to try and honor his memory.”
Race Highlights
TotalEnergies’ Maciej Bodnar set an early benchmark of 34:29, but he was just one in a series of riders who were bumped off the hot-seat. Indeed, Bodnar’s time was later bested by 14 riders including Stefan Bissegger, who set a new benchmark of 32:48.
Although it looked like Wout Van Aert might kick Bissegger off his throne, the Swiss rider’s time held fast.
In the meantime, Evenepoel cracked the best first intermediate time check at 12:00, while Ayuso set the third fastest time there, five seconds slower than the world champion.
Evenepoel followed with the best time at the second intermediate time check, with Skjelmose catching and passing a struggling Gall.
Just after Evenepoel usurped Bissegger with a time of 32:33, Ayuso went one better and stopped the clock 8-seconds faster.
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