Tour de Suisse: Pinot wins on Rettenbachgletscher

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) confirmed he is ready for the Tour de France with an impressive solo victory on the queen stage of the Tour de Suisse. 

The French rider had set the mountain finish close to the summit of the Rettenbachferner as a key goal and important test and stepped up to win the stage and take the race leader’s yellow jersey. Pinot rode a clever race, attacking alone from a select group of riders two kilometres from the snow-covered finish. He cruelly passed Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) who had been part of the break of the day and powered on to win alone.

Pinot managed to gain 34 seconds on Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and 37 seconds on Simon Spilak (Katusha). Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) carefully paced his effort to finish fifth at 43 seconds and keep himself within shot of overall victory. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) was dropped early on the climb but also rode intelligently, losing 1:37 to Pinot.

Pinot pulled on the leader’s yellow jersey under the shadow of the Austrian glacier near Sölden. He leads Thomas by 47 seconds, with Spilak at 50 seconds and Dumoulin at 1:32. Pinot, Thomas and Dumoulin are expected to fight for victory in Sunday’s final time trial stage around Bern. Every second gained or lost could be vital in the 38.4km time trial.

It was Pinot's second Swiss win of the 2015 season after he also won the key mountain stage at the Tour de Romandie in April. This second win was all about building confidence for the Tour de France after Pinot finished third overall in the 2014 Tour.

"I’m very happy. It’s an important win for me and for the team. We wanted to win this stage and I had good legs today to do it," Pinot said before pulling on the yellow jersey and collecting a chunk of cheese on the podium.

"It’s good for my confidence and that’s important in view of the Tour de France. Winning will help me stay relaxed and it’s true, racing in Switzerland seems to suit me."

Pinot is no time trial expert but knows he has opened a good advantage on his rivals. However he and his FDJ teammates will also have to defend the race lead until Sunday.

"The goal is to win the Tour de Suisse but the rouleurs like Thomas and Dumoulin aren’t far back," he conceded. "It’ll be a long and difficult time trial. We’ll see what happens on the day."

A long day in the saddle

The fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse was a long day in the saddle for the peloton, with the stage covering 236km as it headed east from Flumserberg to Sölden and the long twisting climb up the Rettenbach glacier. With the finish at an altitude of 2669m, it is one of the highest finishes of the entire season.

The now defunct Deutschland Tour twice finished atop the Rettenbachferner. In 2005, Levi Leipheimer won en route to claiming overall victory. Two years later, David Lopez – then of Caisse d’Épargne, now of Team Sky – won ahead of Jens Voigt, who did enough to set up his eventual overall victory.

With the climb to the finish dominating the stage, the big-name contenders were happy to let an early break go clear and hang out front. Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), Stefan Denifl, Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling), Ben King (Cannondale-Garmin), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Stefan Schumacher (CCC Sprandi) and Mirko Selvaggi (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) all volunteered to go in the break of the day and quickly opened a gap.

Surprisingly stage four winner Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) did not start, perhaps preferring to avoid the long day in the mountains.

By the time they reached the top of the Bielerhöhe climb after 109km, the break's margin has stretched out to 9:55. Once in the valley again, the Astana, FDJ, Ag2r-La Mondiale and Katusha teams all helped with the chase, reducing the gap to ensure their team leaders would have a shot at the stage victory.

Brändle worked hard for his IAM Cycling teammate and was the first to be dropped from the break. Others soon followed with King and Denifl fighting on. Behind several riders attacked and set the pace at the head of the peloton. Dumoulin was distanced quite early, with nine kilometres to go, as Astana put on the pressure for Lutsenko and Jakob Fuglsang, but managed to fight his way close to the lead group.

However the tempo caused a natural selection as riders tired to stay with the leaders on the gradual, switching hairpins as the altitude reduced the oxygen in the air. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) Thomas and his Team Sky teammate Sergio Henao, Pozzovivo, Spilak, Winner Anacona (Movistar) and Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale-Garmin) made a first selection as Denifl faded out front and Dumoulin dropped out the back.

Spilak was the most aggressive, hitting out alone with 6.5km to go but was pulled back after two kilometres of freedom. Pozzovivo then tried, putting Pinot in trouble but he fought to get back up to the leaders as Denifl realised he would be caught.

Pinot is a fighter and went on the attack with Spilak with 2.8km to go. Thomas was riding a carefully paced effort and crawled his way back up to the pair, only for Pinot to go again and go clear alone.

The Frenchman caught and dropped Denifl with ease and powered on alone, gaining important time on is rivals. Looking calm, collected and in control, he drove all the way to the line, only lifting his arms briefly to celebrated his stage victory.

It was a perfect execution and job done, with Pinot proving to himself and his rivals that he is on track for another good performance at the Tour de France.

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