Miguel Angel Lopez did what Warren Barguil, Wilco Kelderman and Pierre Latour failed to do and defended the Tour de Suisse's yellow jersey for his first WorldTour stage race victory. The Astana rider started the day with just an eight-second lead over Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) but took the race up on the shortened stage by attacking on the Flüela Pass.
IAM Cycling's Jarlison Pantano won the final stage from the breakaway with Jon Izaguirre finishing in third place to clinch second on GC while Barguil rounded out the final podium in third place
The Tour de Suisse is the alternate route to the Tour de France for much of the peloton and its position in the calendar allows them to hone their racing form much closer to the big occasion.
Two riders who have made the switch from their usual preparation at the Critérium du Dauphiné are Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Andrew Talansky (Cannondale). Both are strong contenders for the overall title, but they’ll have to fend off challenges from defending champion Simon Spilak (Katusha) and three-time winner Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida). Last year’s second place finisher Geraint Thomas will also be back to lead a strong Team Sky squad, while Warren Barguil heads up the Giant-Alpecin line-up and Ion Izagirre is present for Movistar.
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Home hero Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) will be looking for glory as he races in Switzerland for possibly the final time in his career. The stage 8 time trial will be in his sights, but he’ll also be key for climbers Peter Stetina and Frank Schleck. Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) will also be another local favourite. The Swiss man regularly wins stages here and with his teammate Michael Matthews they will be looking to lock out the sprint stages.
