Richie Porte wins the Tour de Suisse

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Richie Porte (BMC Racing) confirmed his overall victory at the Tour de Suisse, extending his overall lead with a solid time trial in Bellinzona. Porte’s teammate Stefan Küng, who wore yellow after BMC’s stage one team time trial win, took the stage victory with a time of 39:45, a full 19 seconds ahead of second-placed Søren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb).

Jakob Fuglsang’s 8th place on the day, 38 seconds down, saw him leapfrog from sixth to second on GC. Porte was next best among the GC contenders, 1:04 behind Küng, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) held on to third overall as Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) surprisingly fell off the podium and into fifth place.

The victory, in Porte’s first participation at the race, sets the Australian up well for his shot at the Tour de France, which is now just under three weeks away.

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“This was a big goal – let’s not beat around the bush,” Porte said after the finish. “It’s a very important race and I think it’s disrespectful to say it’s a lead-in race because it means so much to win it. I think going forward into the Tour, it’s a good sign for me to come here and beat a class field.”

Porte also paid tribute to former team owner Andy Rihs, who died in April, as well as adding that this was his biggest race victory to date.

“I’d say so. I’ve won races like Paris-Nice, Catalunya and Romandie but this race is so special,” Porte said. “To come here after the passing of Andy Rihs earlier in the season and win his home tour, it’s a massive satisfaction.”

Porte’s yellow jersey wasn’t the only prize confirmed today, as Enric Mas’ (Quick Step Floors) time of 41:15 saw him hold on to the young riders’ jersey, extending his lead over Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) in that classification and moving up to fourth overall. Elsewhere, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) took the points jersey, while Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport) was the mountains classification winner.

How it unfolded

The final stage of the Tour de Suisse, a flat 34km time trial held on an extended version of stage eight’s circuits in Bellinzona, was set up at the race’s start to be a GC decider. However, with Porte heading into the day already 17 seconds up on Quintana, the destination of the yellow jersey looked all but decided.

Just 21 seconds separated the riders in second and fifth overall before the start, however, while the stage victory was also keenly contested.

Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) set the early running with a time of 40:10. The Pole’s time held up as 60 riders completed their runs, but was eventually beaten by seven seconds by the in-form Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb).

Andersen will have been biting his nails as soon as he sat in the hot seat though, as BMC’s time trial specialists Tejay van Garderen and Stefan Küng were out on course setting the top two times at the second checkpoint.

Van Garderen ended up four seconds down on Kragh Andersen at the finish, but Küng was flying. The Swiss would end up as the only man to set a time faster than 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, the GC favourites were setting off, with Quintana hoping to defend his second overall from Kelderman, who lay 35 seconds back in third place. At the first checkpoint at 9km, things were looking grim for the Colombian.

Porte went through 14 seconds up on Quintana, his overall victory looking safe barring a disaster. At the second check Quintana was just 11 seconds up on Kelderman on the virtual GC, while sixth-place Fuglsang loomed having caught his two-minute man en route to a time of 40:22.

In the end, Kelderman’s final time of 41:17 actually saw him move down rather than up. Quintana’s strong finish saw him set a time of 41:43, leaving him 9 seconds up on the Dutchman on GC. Fuglsang took second, while Porte safely finished his run to clinch overall victory.

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