Tour de Suisse 2018 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

June 16, 2018

Tour de Suisse 2018 – Stage 8 – Bellinzona – Bellinzona : 123 km

BMC Racing’s Richie Porte will head to this year’s Tour de France knowing that, at the ripe old age of 33, he’s not going to have too many more attempts to try to win, having spectacularly, and horrifically, crashed out of last year’s race, so he’ll be using the Tour de Suisse as a barometer of his form.And so it is for many at the Tour de Suisse, who use the race to hone – or sometimes even attempt to find – their form ahead of the Tour de France. And as it has always been, in tandem with those riders who choose the concurrent Critérium du Dauphiné to ready themselves for July.
Movistar pairing Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa get to test out how harmonious their race-winning potential is with their double-pronged attack in Switzerland, and get ready to add third-prong Alejandro Valverde in July at the Tour.Katusha-Alpecin come here with the defending Tour de Suisse champion who was the 2015 winner, too, in Simon Spilak. UAE Team Emirates, meanwhile, boast three-time Tour de Suisse winner – from 2012-2014 – Rui Costa in their ranks. It remains to be seen whether the Portuguese rider still has what it takes to win a fourth title, but he’ll be on all the contenders’ watch lists.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) won the penultimate stage of the Tour de Suisse, coming from behind to outsprint Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) in Bellinzona. Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Team Emirates) claimed third place ahead of world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

On a rare flat day at the Tour de Suisse, the break was caught in the final 10km, all was set for the final sprint showdown of the race. Quick-Step Floors, Groupama-FDJ and Bora-Hansgrohe all battled for prime position in the final 5km but it was the Belgian team who looked to have gotten a jump on their rivals in the final kilometre.

Gaviria and his leadout man Maximilano Richeze hit the front 500 metres out, with Démare, Kristoff and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) lined out behind. The Colombian launched first, hugging the barriers with 200 metres to go. Gaviria was locked in a head-to-head battle with Démare for the line, but the Frenchman had too much pure speed and won the day. Sagan was closing quickly in the final 100 metres, but could only manage 4th behind Kristoff.

Ahead of Sunday’s final stage, a 34km time trial around Bellinzona, Richie Porte (BMC) remains in the overall lead. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) lies second at 17 seconds down, while Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) retains third place 52 seconds back, just one second ahead of Enric Mas (Quick Step Floors).

How it unfolded

After a day in the mountains, the Tour de Suisse headed south to the Italian borderlands and the town of Bellinzona for its final weekend. The 120km stage, made up of five and a half laps of a 21km circuit set in the Ticino River valley, would be the last chance for the sprinters to get a result.

With no hills on the route, the only attractions for the breakaway were three intermediate sprints in the town of Claro, coming after 66km, 87km, and 108km.

The break got away in the opening kilometres of the stage, with Eddie Dunbar (Aqua Blue Sport), Willie Smit (Katusha-Alpecin) and Paul Ourselin (Direct Énergie) joined by Nathan Brown (EF-Drapac) up the road.

The quartet of leaders built a maximum lead of two minutes, but with Lotto-Soudal, Quick Step Floors and Bora-Hansgrohe among the teams on the front of the peloton it was a gap entirely under control.

After a largely uneventful day for the break, Brown was the first to drop back 13km from the line. The remaining trio held on a little longer, with Smit and Dunbar attacking into the final 10km before they succumbed to the inevitable with 5km remaining.

Groupama-FDJ and Bora-Hansgrohe massed at the front in the final kilometres, two competing trains for their sprinters. In the final kilometre Quick Step came to the fore but it was the Groupama-FDJ man who prevailed, taking his second victory of the season.

Results :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 2:41:07
2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
7 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
8 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
9 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
10 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
11 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
12 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
13 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
14 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
15 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
16 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
17 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
18 Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
19 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
20 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
21 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
22 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
23 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
24 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
25 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
26 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
27 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
30 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
31 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
32 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
33 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
34 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
35 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
36 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
37 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
38 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
39 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
40 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
41 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
42 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
43 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
44 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
45 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
46 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
47 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
48 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
49 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
50 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
51 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb
53 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
54 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
55 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
56 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
57 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
58 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
59 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
60 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
61 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
62 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
63 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
64 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:00:23
66 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
67 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
68 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
69 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
70 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
71 Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
72 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
73 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
74 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
76 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
77 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
79 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
80 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
81 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
82 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:00:39
83 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:42
84 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:55
85 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
86 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
87 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
89 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
90 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:02
91 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
92 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
93 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:04
94 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
96 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
97 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:15
98 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:20
99 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
100 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:32
101 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
102 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:36
103 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:40
104 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
105 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
106 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:01:42
107 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:46
108 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
109 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:57
110 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:33
111 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:45
112 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:04:52
113 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
114 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
115 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
116 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
117 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
118 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
119 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
120 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
121 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
122 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
123 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
124 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
125 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:04:57
126 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
127 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Direct Energie
128 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
129 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
130 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
131 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
132 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
133 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
134 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
135 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
136 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
137 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:09:23
138 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
139 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
140 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale

General Classification after Stage 8 :
1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 28:47:17
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:17
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:52
4 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:53
5 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:13
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:28
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:31
8 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:37
9 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:48
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:26
11 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:32
12 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:42
13 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:56
14 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:03:02
15 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:03
16 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:09
17 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:15
18 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:19
19 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:54
20 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky 0:04:14
21 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:39
22 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:06:57
23 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:07:58
24 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:09:05
25 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:30
26 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:09:48
27 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:10:01
28 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:23
29 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:11:25
30 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:12:50
31 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:13:05
32 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:13:35
33 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:13:50
34 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:14:23
35 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:24
36 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:16:38
37 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:19:22
38 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:19:53
39 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport 0:22:18
40 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:22:19
41 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:22:21
42 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:23:44
43 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:23:47
44 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:24:25
45 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:25:08
46 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:28:11
47 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:28:49
48 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:30:26
49 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:31:13
50 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:32:00
51 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:33:16
52 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:34:45
53 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:35:14
54 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin 0:35:38
55 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:35:43
56 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:37:01
57 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:40:15
58 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:40:42
59 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:44:22
60 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:44:58
61 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:45:02
62 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:45:34
64 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:46:15
65 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:46:22
66 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:48:25
67 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:48:29
68 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:49:40
69 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:49:48
70 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:50:43
71 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:52:26
72 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:52:31
73 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:52:53
74 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:54:23
75 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:56:11
76 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:57:40
77 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:58:09
78 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:58:46
79 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 1:03:25
80 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:03:55
81 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 1:05:07
82 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 1:05:24
83 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 1:05:42
84 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 1:05:54
85 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 1:06:13
86 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 1:08:26
87 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 1:08:53
88 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:09:13
90 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 1:09:37
91 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:09:55
92 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 1:10:34
93 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 1:11:13
94 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:11:29
95 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:11:41
96 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 1:11:49
97 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:12:44
98 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 1:13:26
99 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie 1:14:22
100 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:15:21
101 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:15:46
102 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 1:16:36
103 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:16:42
104 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 1:16:52
105 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:17:52
106 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 1:18:24
107 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:19:22
108 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:19:35
109 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 1:20:47
110 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 1:22:16
111 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 1:23:26
112 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team 1:23:37
113 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 1:23:57
114 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 1:24:03
115 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 1:25:02
116 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 1:25:50
117 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 1:29:25
118 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 1:30:06
119 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:31:07
120 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 1:32:34
121 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1:33:30
122 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 1:34:42
123 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1:36:26
124 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1:36:40
125 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1:37:09
126 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 1:37:16
127 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors 1:37:55
128 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:39:15
129 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 1:39:42
130 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 1:41:38
131 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky 1:42:00
132 Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 1:42:21
133 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 1:42:53
134 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 1:43:11
135 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:43:24
136 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:44:10
137 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 1:48:37
138 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 1:49:02
139 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 1:54:06
140 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 1:59:52