cycling: Tour de Suisse stage #6: Van Garderen wins on the Rettenbachferner

Cycling: The American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) came back impressively after yesterday's slump and won the section from Arbon to Sölden at the Tour de Suisse. Up to the Rettenbachferner, he didn't give the competition a chance. Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) got a 2-minute pack in the yellow jersey and Geraint Thomas (Sky) also lost over a minute. Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) took third place overall ahead of Miguel Ángel López (Astana).

 

Tolhoek secures the mountain jersey

The 6th stage of this year's Tour de Suisse led the riders over 224,3 km from Arbon to Sölden up to the Rettenbachferner. This mountain of the Hors Catégorie is 2.669 m above sea level, with a total of 4.294 meters to be overcome today. So it's no wonder that this section is considered the king's stage. Apparently, some drivers didn't want to put themselves through this torture anymore and got out. Pierre Latour (Ag2r) certainly deserves a mention as the young Frenchman wore the yellow jersey for at least one day. After flashing his talent with 3rd place in Stage 4, he was out yesterday with bronchitis and dropped to 2016th overall. On the other hand, the Austrian Matthias Brändle (IAM) and the Belgian Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step) sensed a chance on today's stage, because the two rode in the lead for almost the entire race and at times had a lead of more than twelve minutes on the peloton. Antwan Tolhoek (Roompot) was briefly in the lead again, but after winning the first two climbs he dropped back into the peloton. This means that the young Dutchman has already been confirmed as the winner of the XNUMX Tour de Suisse mountain jersey, should he be able to complete the tour.

The yellow jersey of the Tour de Suisse collapsed again today

Through the imposing Ötztal, the teams of Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana) largely set the pace on the way to the final climb. The leading duo Brändle/Keisse entered the Rettenbachferner with a lead of almost eight minutes. Team Sky immediately took over for Geraint Thomas in the person of Vasil Kiryienka. On the 11,4 km with an average incline of more than 10 percent, the Sky captain hoped to be able to make up the deficit of 56 seconds on Kelderman today. This actually happened much faster than one could have hoped for, because Kelderman dropped out of the group of favorites quite early on and was therefore able to say goodbye to a good overall placement. It was also over six kilometers before the finish for the two front runners. First Keisse was caught and a little later Brändle got caught too, who nevertheless said goodbye with a wheelie uphill in a good mood. Meanwhile, the group of favorites was getting smaller and smaller. Kiryienka once again lived up to his reputation as a relentless engine, pounding up the mountain at a grueling and steady pace.

Van Garderen reports back - Barguil grabs yellow

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), who lost a lot of time yesterday, seemed even too slow at Sky's pace. So he attacked 4,5 km from the finish. Kiryienka and Thomas let him have his way, but remained unimpressed overall. But Andrew Talansky (Cannondale), third overall, was driving at the very end of the group of favorites, which was perhaps still 10 strong, and was clearly struggling. Second overall Warren Barguil, on the other hand, saw his chance immediately and started chasing Tejay Van Garderen. When Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) managed to escape with three kilometers to go and catch up with Barguil, the spectators began to wonder whether Thomas didn't want to go faster or whether he couldn't go faster. After Lokomotiv Kiryienka finished its work, the captains took matters into their own hands. López, Talansky and Simon Spilak (Katusha) pulled away and Thomas was left behind with Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Ion Izaguirre (Movistar). López literally flew up the Rettenbachferner, but nobody was able to catch Van Garderen. The American won ahead of the duo of López and Barguil, making him the new leader in the standings. In the end, Thomas even lost more than a minute to the day's winner and is of course finally out of the fight for overall victory. In the yellow jersey, Kelderman even got a two-minute pack.

 

Tour de Suisse - The daily result of the 6th stage

 

Tour de Suisse – The overall standings after the 6th stage