Tour de Suisse 2015: Stage 9

By
published

January 1 - June 21, Bern, Switzerland, Road - WorldTour

Refresh

 Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the final time trial stage of the Tour de Suisse.  

 Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the final 38km time trial around Bern. 

The early riders have begun to finish but the fight for overall victory is yet to get underway. 

Race leader Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) will be last to start in the yellow jersey but has just a 34-second lead on Geraint Thomas (Team Sky).   

Simon Spilak (Katusha) is third overall at just 47 seconds and cannot be ruled out.  

Early race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) is also a threat. He is sixth overall at :124 but is a world-class time trialist.

The 38km TT course covers the same hilly circuit used for Saturday's road race stage. It is tough and time trial skills will be vital.  

Local hero and Bern resident Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) is the current race leader. He set a time of 48:55. Perhaps only Dumoulin has a chance of beating him.  

No sooner did we mention Danny Pate and Adriano Malori (Movistar) finishes with a new second best time of 49:10. Ten seconds slower than Cancellara.   

Malori was fastest at the21km point but then faded in the run-in to Bern. 

Australia's Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) has just started his time trial and has set the fastest time after 3.8km. He was three seconds faster than Cancellara. 

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) is also in action, wearing the black points jersey.

French climber Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) will start his ride soon as he looks to defend his top ten spot.

There are lots of other races today. We don't want to spoil your day by revealing the winners here but for further information, click on the cyclingnews.com home page here. 

 

The big name overall contenders are starting their rides. They will need around 55 minutes to complete the course.

Here comes Meyer but he has lost time and finishes almost a minute down on Cancellara.

Meyer is currently third fastest at 48 seconds. 

Dumoulin is off! Can he win overall? We will know in just over an hour. 

The USA's Ben King (Cannondale-Garmin) showed his pre-Tour de France form by setting a good time of 50:29. That is just 1:33 slower than Cancellara.

Dumoulin is racing in the red, white and blue jersey of Dutch national champion.

The tall Giant-Alpecin rider has an excellent time trial style and confirmed his talent by taking the bronze medal at the 2014 world championships behind Bradley Wiggins and Tony Martin.

Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) set off for his TT. He will be looking to defend his fourth place overall.  

Silvan Dillier (BMC) sets the fifth fastest time with 50:19. Swiss riders are fighting all the way to the end of their national Tour. 

Simon Spilak (Katusha) is in action. He is a dangerous outside for overall success.

Pinot is the start ramp, with the fans calling his name. 

3-2-1 and he's off.

3-2-1 and he's off.

Spilak has started fast and is gaining time on his rivals.

At the finish, Fabian Cancellara is sat in the hot seat as the current fastest rider.

Jerome Coppel (IAM Cycling) produces an excellent ride, with a time just 25 seconds slower than Cancellara. 

In early time splits, Pinot has already lost 12 to Thomas. 

Dumoulin is also flying and gaining time back on Pinot and could even be a threat to Cancellara. 

Pinot is trying to limit his losses to Thomas, Spilak and Dumoulin but is losing seconds in every kilometre.

Dumoulin is reported to be 2 seconds faster than Cancellara after 15km. 

Spilak is also flying. He sets the same time (20:48) as Dumoulin after 15km. 

After 21km Dumoulin is even faster, setting a time of 28:57, 11 seconds faster than Cancellara. 

Incredibly, Thomas also sets a time of 20:48 after 15km. 

Pinot is out of the saddle on a slight climb and seems to be suffering.

After 15km, Pinot is 48 seconds down on Dumoulin and seems to be losing his lead. 

Thomas is now virtual race leader, 13 seconds ahead of Spilak. Pinot is down to third at 14 seconds.

Spilak is fastest after 21km in a time of 28:56.

Thomas sets a time of 29:03 after 21km. He is still on track for overall victory. 

Dumoulin messes up a corner, taking it wide and passing on the pavement. 

Sixth for Rafal Majka at the finish. 

Spilak is flying and has caught and passed Pozzovivo. 

Spilak is only 14 seconds behind Thomas and so is a major threat. 

Spilak and Thomas are equal in the GC according to virtual timings. This is going to a battle decided by  few seconds.

Dumoulin finishes, setting the fastest time of 48:36, beating Cancellara by 19 seconds.

Thomas is now on a flat section of road and trying to pull back time on Spilak.  

Thomas is tucked low and pushing a big gear as he pulls back seconds. 

Thomas is nine seconds down on Spilak and so has a handful of second to his favour. 

Spilak is close to the finish.

He finishes with a time of 48:54, second fastest behind Dumoulin but ahead of Cancellara.

Spilak was 13 seconds down on Thomas in the overall classification, so Thomas will have to beat him by 14 seconds.

Thomas is just one kilometre away from the finish.

Dumoulin wins the stage but Thomas is finishing fast.  

It's close but Thomas fails to win the race. He lost five seconds too many to Spilak who is the overall race winner.   

With Pinot still to finish, it is safe to say that Tom Domoulin (Giant-Alpecin) is the stage winner, while Simon Spilak (Katusha) is the overall race winner. 

Thomas is heading to the finish podium but looks hugely disappointed.

Pinot finishes with a time of 50:26, 1:50 slower than Dumoulin. He slips out of the top three.

Spilak wins the Tour de Suisse after his excellent time trial.  

Provisional results show Tohmas finished the Tour de Suisse jut five seconds down on Spilak, with Dumoulin third overall at 19 seconds.

Spilak has collected the winner's trophy and the final yellow jersey on the podium in Bern. 

Spilak seems especially suited to short stage races, especially in Switzerland. He was second overall in this year's Tour de Romandie.

Thomas seemed to lose the vital seconds on the final climb up to the finish in Bern. Spilak is a master of illy time trials and finished second in the Tour de Romandie TT.   

Thomas finished 18 seconds slower and so lost the race by five seconds.

Thanks for joining us for live coverage from the Tour de Suisse.

Latest on Cyclingnews