Swiss time trial champion Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) powered to his third victory at the prestigious Chrono des Nations race against the clock, narrowly beating Jay Vine (UAE Emirates) in Les Herbiers by just four seconds with a time of 51:53 and average speed of 52.5kph.
Küng was the last rider to set off on the 45.4km and built most of his lead between the two intermediate checkpoints after crossing the first one second down on Vine and three off the pace of fellow UAE rider Mikkel Bjerg. By the second check, Küng was flying and now seven seconds of Vine in first, with Bjerg fading quickly to 17 seconds off the lead.
This is Küng's third win of the season, adding to his successes from the Vuelta a España and his home national championships in Switzerland.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
-
'There is already something going on in the bunch' - Threat of illness after cold, wet Giro d'Italia stage 5 more concerning than 6:22 deficit for Visma-Lease a Bike
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe expect Visma to keep pink jersey in reach with Friday's stage to Blockhaus on the horizon -
'We knew there would be fireworks' - Long, solo pursuit through rain proves too much for Giulio Ciccone to defend Giro d'Italia lead
Italian isolated in front group, loses over seven minutes to new maglia rosa Afonso Eulálio -
'I don't know how I feel, it's too crazy' - Afonso Eulálio takes Giro d'Italia pink jersey after topsy-turvy stage 5 breakaway
Portuguese racer crashes late on, loses sprint, but takes the overall lead -
'Nothing is over til you pass the finish line' - How Igor Arrieta turned disaster into a career-defining moment at the Giro d'Italia
Young Basque stage winner dedicates first WorldTour victory to teammates forced to abandon race
