Tour de Suisse 2019 – Stage 9 [FULL STAGE]

June 23, 2019

Tour de Suisse 2019 – Stage 9 – Goms – Goms : 101,5 km

The Tour de Suisse, together with the Criterium du Dauphine, is the last critical test before the Tour de France – on one hand, a tune-up for the general classification contenders – on the other, a fight for selection to a rider’s squad for the Grand Tour. For Team Ineos, the Tour de Suisse will be an important form check for defending Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas, who has not raced since coming third in the Tour de Romandie, and for his teammate Egan Bernal, who fractured his collarbone after the Volta a Catalunya. It will also be a critical juncture for Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) who is coming back after iliac artery surgery.

Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) secured overall victory at the Tour de Suisse while Hugh Carthy (EF Eduction First) scored a remarkable win on the final stage after a 90km solo raid over the the Nufenenpass, San Gottardo and Furkapass.

Carthy reached the finish in Ulrichen 1:03 clear of Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida) and Bernal, who both went clear of the other GC contenders atop the Furkapass, but the Briton’s victory was never in doubt from the moment he hit the base of the final ascent with a shade over three minutes in hand on the yellow jersey group.

Although Carthy had gone clear of the early attackers on the Nufenenpass and led alone over the San Gottardo, he still appeared to be climbing fluidly on the lower slopes of the Furkapass. That impression was borne out by the time gap at the summit, where, with 26km remaining, he still had 2:45 in hand on Dennis and Bernal. Carthy conceded some ground on the flat run-in that followed the descent, though by then, stage victory was long since assured.

“On the first climb I knew the legs, body and head was good. It was just a time trial – the same for everybody – just one effort per climb. You just have to believe you can do it,” said Carthy, who also picked up the king of the mountains title in the process.

“It genuinely wasn’t planned. Two days ago on the stage to San Gottardo I was terrible. My head, legs and body were tired, and I just wanted to be on holiday and finish the first part of the season. Yesterday in the time trial the legs were better. Today it was one last chance and I wanted to finish on a high before the holidays.”

Dennis claimed second place overall after riding with considerable ambition on this final stage. He made a game attempt at dislodging the implacable Bernal from the yellow jersey by attacking near the top of the Furkapass, and though he was unable to shake off Bernal, his effort did bring the top two overall clear of the rest of their GC rivals.

Dennis and Bernal descended the Furkapass together and reached the finish in Ulrichen in second and third place on the stage, respectively. In the overall standings, Dennis thus finishes 19 seconds down on Bernal, while Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) did enough to retain third place, albeit some 3:04 behind. Dennis will begin the Tour de France in support of Vincenzo Nibali, but his climbing exploits on this race will surely have given him renewed confidence in his ability in the high mountains.

Bernal, meanwhile, arrived at the Tour de Suisse as deputy to Geraint Thomas, but he proved an able replacement leader when the Welshman crashed out on stage 4. Already winner of Paris-Nice this season, Bernal delivered an assured performance in Switzerland, winning Friday’s stage atop the San Gottardo and then defending his yellow jersey with a fine display on the penultimate day time trial. He withstood Dennis’s late onslaught here to confirm himself among the favourites for the forthcoming Tour de France.

“I think that it is one of the biggest races I have won, so I really have a lot of confidence for the next races and I’m really happy because before this race I had a big crash and I could not go to the Giro d’Italia,” Bernal said. “So to come here and win is really nice for me and the team.”

How it unfolded

The final stage of the Tour de Suisse was short but exceedingly difficult, with three mountain passes in excess of 2,100 metres shoehorned into just 101km of racing. The brevity of the stage encouraged early aggression, but few could have imagined that one rider would manage to spend the bulk of the afternoon alone on the front as Carthy did here.

Carthy was among the first riders to force the issue on the lower slopes of the Nufenenpass, and as the gradient stiffened, the Briton preferred to press on at his own pace rather than wait for company. He crested the summit 40 seconds clear of a group containing Mark Soler (Movistar), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), Lennard Kämna (Sunweb) and Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), while Ineos set the tempo in a reduced peloton, 2:30 behind.

On the cobbles of the San Gottardo, Carthy maintained his brisk tempo, climbing out of the saddle when the gradient demanded and always maintaining his gap over the chasers, who had now been joined by Simon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin). The going proved too demanding for Aru, who was distanced on the upper reaches of the climb. Come the summit, Carthy had 1:20 over Spilak, Kämna, Soler and Frank, while an Astana-led peloton was 3:20 behind.

Carthy was in a race of his own come the base of the Furkapass, where he held a buffer of two minutes over his immediate pursuers and 3:15 on the yellow jersey group. Behind, meanwhile, the race for the podium places was igniting in earnest. Jan Hirt (Astana) attacked at the foot of the Furkapass after some brisk pace-making from teammate Luis Leon Sanchez, and he was later joined by Enric Mas (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

By now, Bernal was bereft of Ineos teammates and it was Bahrain-Merida who took up the reins of pursuit, with Domenico Pozzovivo putting in a fine cameo in support of Dennis. The Italian’s tempo riding first helped to peg back Mas and Hirt, and then whittled the yellow jersey group down to its bare bones.

Approaching the summit, only Bernal, Dennis, Konrad, Hirt and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) remained in contact with Pozzovivo. When he swung over, Dennis took it upon himself to go on the offensive and although he was unable to shake off Bernal, this duo had the strength to distance the rest of the podium contenders. Konrad did enough to ensure he finished on the third step of the rostrum by coming home 2:15 down alongside Benoot and Hirt, who had to settle for 4th and 5th place overall, respectively.

The day belonged to Carthy, who admitted that his overriding emotion one of relief. The week, however, was all about Bernal, who downplayed the idea that July might belong to him too, insisting that Geraint Thomas will lead Ineos at the Tour de France.

“I don’t choose to say that I am the favourite,” Bernal said. “In any case, I will go with G. he will be our leader. I will try to help him. If he’s better than me, then for sure I will help him. I don’t have any problem to help him. I am still only 22 years old, I think I have a lot of Tours in front of me.”

Results :
1 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 3:01:49
2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:02
3 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos
4 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:52
5 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:15
7 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
9 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
11 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:07
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
13 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Switzerland
14 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos
15 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep
16 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
17 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:04:52
18 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
19 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:25
20 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
21 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
22 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
23 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Switzerland
24 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:05:29
25 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
26 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates
27 Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data
28 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:05:34
29 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:05
30 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data
31 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
32 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
33 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
34 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
35 enny Elissonde (Fra) Team Ineos 0:07:15
36 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:10:20
37 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:31
38 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
39 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:53
40 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:02
41 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
42 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
44 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
45 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team 0:12:58
46 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:13:31
47 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
48 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
49 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:14:57
50 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:26
51 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
53 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
54 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
55 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
56 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
57 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
58 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
59 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
60 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal
61 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
62 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
63 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb
64 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
65 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Switzerland
66 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data
67 Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
68 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:18:05
69 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
70 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
71 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
72 Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:19:08
73 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
74 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Switzerland
75 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland
76 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
77 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
78 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
79 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
80 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
81 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
82 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:20:21
83 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
84 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
85 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:47
86 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
87 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
88 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team
89 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
90 Carlos Cuesta Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
91 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
92 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
93 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
94 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
95 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
96 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
97 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ
98 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
99 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Direct Energie
100 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
101 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
102 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
103 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:21:53
104 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:24:13
105 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:24:58
106 Claudio Imhoff (Swi) Switzerland
107 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Switzerland 0:25:59
108 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
109 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
110 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:27:17
111 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
113 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First
114 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
115 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
DNF Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
DNF Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Pierre-Roger LaTour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
DNF Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First
DNF Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
DNF Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
DNS Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First
DNS Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
DNS Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNS Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First

Final General Classification :
1 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos 27:43:10
2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:19
3 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:04
4 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:12
5 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:03:13
6 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:48
7 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:14
8 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:04:35
9 Enric Mas (Spa) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:04:53
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 0:05:27
11 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Switzerland 0:05:38
12 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:27
13 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:17
14 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:06
15 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Ineos 0:09:15
16 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:39
17 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:09:42
18 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:03
19 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie 0:11:18
20 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:12:11
21 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:13:18
22 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data 0:13:32
23 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:17:02
24 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:06
25 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team 0:18:11
26 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:19:53
27 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:20:23
28 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team 0:20:36
29 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:20:46
30 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:21:30
31 Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data 0:21:35
32 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:22:06
33 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:22:16
34 enny Elissonde (Fra) Team Ineos 0:22:25
35 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team 0:24:26
36 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:24:46
37 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:25:09
38 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Switzerland 0:26:36
39 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:27:29
40 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:28:23
41 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team 0:29:17
42 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team 0:30:19
43 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:31:59
44 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Switzerland 0:32:58
45 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:33:08
46 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:34:16
47 Ben King (USA) Dimension Data 0:35:04
48 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:35:05
49 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:35:31
50 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:35:49
51 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:36:11
52 Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 0:36:54
53 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:37:43
54 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland 0:38:48
55 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First 0:39:45
56 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:40:38
57 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie 0:41:16
58 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:43:00
59 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:43:28
60 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:43:29
61 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:45:02
62 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:45:03
63 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:45:13
64 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:46:15
65 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data 0:46:21
66 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:46:40
67 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:47:04
68 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:47:22
69 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:47:46
70 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:47:58
71 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data 0:49:49
72 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:50:41
73 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:53:42
74 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:54:13
75 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:54:14
76 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:55:25
77 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:56:07
78 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Direct Energie
79 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:56:09
80 Gian Friesecke (Swi) Switzerland 0:56:21
81 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 1:01:36
82 Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin 1:01:40
83 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:02:25
84 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:04:15
85 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 1:04:46
86 Carlos Cuesta Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 1:04:47
87 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 1:05:01
88 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 1:05:22
89 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 1:08:13
90 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 1:08:23
91 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 1:09:11
92 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Switzerland 1:10:31
93 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 1:10:53
94 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 1:10:58
95 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:11:04
96 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 1:11:36
97 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 1:11:56
98 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie 1:14:55
99 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 1:15:01
100 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 1:16:17
101 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 1:16:19
102 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 1:17:12
103 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 1:17:15
104 Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 1:20:10
105 Claudio Imhoff (Swi) Switzerland 1:20:40
106 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:21:13
107 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 1:21:20
108 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ 1:22:14
109 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:23:24
110 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:24:10
111 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:25:55
112 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 1:26:27
113 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 1:26:56
114 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 1:28:21
115 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:33:22