Tour de Suisse: Van Garderen wins queen stage in Sölden

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Tejay van Garderen (BMC) looked back and saw no one behind him as he crossed the finish line at the Rettenbach Glacier above Sölden to take the stage 7 victory at the Tour de Suisse.

The American had plenty of time to celebrate ahead of his distant chasers, led by Miguel Lopez (Astana), who finished in second, Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) in third and Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) in fourth.

Van Garderen made the first attack with 4.6km to go - blasting out of the small group of GC contenders from which race leader Wilco Kelderman had already been dropped - in what looked like a resurrection after his previous day’s struggle through the cold that saw him lose two minutes to his rivals. He quickly picked up 20 seconds, and looked as motivated as ever to redeem himself as one of the strongest climbers in the race.

Barguil tried to close the gap with Pantano close behind, but it was a case of too little too late as Van Garderen carried on at a powerful speed, picking up more time with each pedal stroke. He rounded the hairpin turns, under the rain and slick roads with a healthy lead, as his rivals behind scrambled to close the gap down.

Under two kilometres to go, his lead swelled to 27 seconds, then 30 and 33 in what was clearly an unstoppable performance.

Barguil tried to attack Pantano but both were surprised by the new addition to the chase group, Lopez, who had silently bridge across. The Colombian looked freshest of the three and he made his move for second place, leaving Barguil for third and Pantano in fourth.

Barguil may have been disappointed to lose out on the stage win but, it was no consolation prize of course, that the Frenchman moved into the overall lead, 21 seconds ahead of Lopez and 24 seconds ahead of Andrew Talansky (Cannondale).

The climb to the glacier

With Mathias Brandle (IAM Cycling) on the attack seven minutes up the road, followed by his former breakaway companion Iljo Keisse (Etixx-QuickStep), the peloton reached Sölden at the base of the final climb towards the Rettenbachferner. The 11.5km climb boasted an average gradient of 10 per cent, and an opportunity to shake up the general classification.

Laurens Ten Dam and Simon Geschke pushed the pace at the front of the field with Barguil on their wheels, as LottoNL-Jumbo’s overall race leader Wilco Kelderman began to struggle on the slopes.

Astana’s Michele Scarponi and Lopez challenged Giant-Alpecin’s control and put their own pressure on the bunch. BMC also emerged to the fore with van Garderen, and with nine kilometres to go they had peeled back two more minutes from Brandle’s advantage.

The Swiss rider continued to hemorrhage time as he approached the steeper sections of the climb, down to three minutes with eight kilometres to go.

The main field split apart and under 20 contenders remained up front including Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Barguil, Van Garderen and Darwin Atapuma (BMC), defending champion Simon Spilak (Katusha), Talansky, Victor De La Parte (Movistar) Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Lopez among them. 

Rain began to spit on the riders at roughly seven kilometres to go but that quickly turned to snow as they continued to climb. Fans waited at the finish line under gently falling snow.

Brandle enjoyed a small descent through the toll booth with six kilometres remaining but as the road pitched up again, he looked as if he was standing still, his legs almost seizing under him. The slashed time gap proved his fatigue, and the field’s motivation, but he still fought, swerving side to side up the mountain road, holding on to only 30 seconds. Once caught, he mustered up enough energy to smile and pop a wheelie for the cameras.

Thomas benefitted from the help of his teammate Vasil Kiryienka, who set the pace for the group up most of the climb.

But it was Van Garderen who made the first attack with under five kilometres to go. And it was the surprise move of the day that stuck to the finish line.

Brandle and Keisse go for broke, Tolhoek takes mountain points

Stage 7, the queen stage at the Tour de Suisse, was 224.5km from Arbon to Solden and included two significant climbs, firstly the Hochtannberg Pass (85.5km), which is a hors-category ascent. Then there was the climb to the finish line above Solden, a lengthy climb at altitude: 2669 metres above sea level.

Tired legs from the previous day’s climbing stage showed as the peloton let an early breakaway go. Mathias Brandle (IAM Cycling) and Iljo Keisse (Etixx-QuickStep) leaped off the front, while mountains classification leader Antwan Tolhoek (Roompot) tried to make it across to the two leaders but ended up stuck between the bunch and the break, but only for a short while before he closed the gap.

Just 40km into the stage, the trio built their lead out to eight minutes. But as they approached the Hochtannberg Pass, the gap ballooned to 12 minutes. They had some reprieve on a small descent before reaching another climb to the top. Tolhoek picked up the full KOM points and built a further lead in the mountains classification.

The peloton reduced the gap to 10 minutes, and over the climb several riders abandoned including Pierre Latour, who had spent a short time in the leader’s jersey, but he struggled over the climbs during stage 6 and lost the lead. His team AG2R La Mondiale later announced that he abandoned due to bronchitis.

Once the breakaway reached the flatter sections of the course, ahead of the final climb, Tolhoek decided his day in the breakaway was over and he sat up to allow the field to catch him. Keisse’s and Brandle’s lead hovered between nine and ten minutes, as the field began to organize a legitimate chase led by LottoNL-Jumbo for their race leader Wilco Kelderman.

There were two intermediate sprints on course at 196.9km in Langenfield and 211km in Solden, before the start of the climb. Points leader Max Richeze (Etixx-QuickStep) mopped up the remaining points behind the leaders to increase his lead in that classification to 18 points over Peter Sagan.

With 12km to go, Keisse and Brandle held onto more than seven minutes over the field. But as soon as the pair hit the base of the climb, with 11.5km to go, Brandle, a Swiss rider racing on Austrian roads, took a gamble and went for a solo move on the ascent.

His effort looked painful as his tired legs tried to hold off the select group of climbers behind. He was caught, after a valiant effort, which set up the stage for the overall contenders.

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