Tour de Suisse: Pozzovivo takes emphatic win on La Punt
AG2R La Mondiale rider takes race lead from Caruso
Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) rode to victory and into the yellow jersey on stage 6 of the Tour de Suisse, catching lone leader Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) at the top of the Albulapass and then dropping him on the wet descent to the line.
The Italian was third overall at the start of the day with a 25-second deficit to Damiano Caruso, so there was a tense wait after the BMC rider crossed the line in a fragmented GC group 15 seconds back, with Pozzovivo's 10 bonus seconds putting them dead level on time. In the end the organisers put Pozzovivo atop the standings.
Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) was second on the stage, four seconds behind Pozzovivo, with Ion Izaguirre taking third alongside him in a three-man group that also included Pozzovivo's teammate Mathias Frank.
Simon Spilak (Katusha-Alpecin) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) were next across the line, followed shortly by a desperate Caruso, who had responded time and again to the attacks on the final climb.
Also in that fragmented GC group were Mikel Nieve (Team Sky), Marc Soler (Movistar), and Pello Bilbao (Astana). The latter moved into the top 10 overall at the expense of Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky), who attacked on the final climb before falling away.
A crestfallen Woods crossed the line in 10th place. He made the breakaway that went clear after 40 or so kilometres on the San Bernadino climb, one of two big climbs on the 166.7km stage from Locarno to La Punt-Chamues.
The former runner attacked early on the Albulapass, a 15km hors-categorie ascent, and it looked like he was on his way to his first victory as a fully-fledged professional, until the GC riders started attacking each other. It was Pozzovivo's dig, less than four kilometres from the summit, that did for him, and the Italian joined him over the top for the 9.7km run to the line – made up of a plateau and a descent.
As the rain began to lash down, Pozzovivo's experience, perhaps, made the difference as Woods struggled with the lines on the descent. Caruso and the GC group were advancing, but the 34-year-old did enough to hold them off and take his first victory since 2015.
"This is a very important victory, a WorldTour race, and the first big race for me after the Giro, so it's a big satisfaction for the whole squad. I was waiting for a victory like this because I was very strong in the Tour of the Alps, and then had a good Giro," said Pozzovivo.
"The Giro was very hard but I came out of it with a good condition. Today was a very hard day with lots of climbing, but I'm really happy I was able to win."
How it unfolded
As was the case on Wednesday, there was a big fight to get into the breakaway, and the peloton remained as one all the way to the San Bernadino climb.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 4:38:49 |
2 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:04 |
3 | Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
4 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
5 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:00:12 |
6 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
7 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:15 |
8 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:18 |
9 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | |
10 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:00:21 |
11 | Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky | 0:00:24 |
12 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:34 |
13 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:40 |
14 | Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:46 |
15 | Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:56 |
16 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | 0:02:22 |
17 | Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data | |
18 | Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
19 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida | |
20 | Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:02:36 |
21 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:11 |
22 | Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott | 0:03:24 |
23 | Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team | |
24 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:04:29 |
25 | Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
26 | Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ | 0:05:21 |
27 | Daan Olivier (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
28 | Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | 0:05:24 |
29 | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ | 0:05:36 |
30 | Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:05:43 |
31 | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data | 0:06:16 |
32 | Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida | |
33 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ | 0:07:25 |
34 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 0:09:58 |
35 | Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates | 0:10:15 |
36 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | 0:10:29 |
37 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac | |
38 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:11:32 |
39 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | |
40 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:11:59 |
41 | Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky | |
42 | Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:12:08 |
43 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:12:29 |
44 | Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac | |
45 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
46 | Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale | |
47 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ | 0:12:33 |
48 | Alberto Losada (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin | |
49 | Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:12:38 |
50 | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:12:41 |
51 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 0:13:19 |
52 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal | |
53 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
54 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:13:35 |
55 | Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky | 0:13:46 |
56 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb | 0:14:20 |
57 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:14:34 |
58 | Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:14:49 |
59 | Larry Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:15:07 |
60 | David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | |
61 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:16:07 |
62 | Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:16:48 |
63 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | 0:17:41 |
64 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
65 | Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
66 | Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | 0:20:01 |
67 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 0:21:34 |
68 | Martijn Keizer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:23:24 |
69 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb | 0:24:19 |
70 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | |
71 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
72 | Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
73 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb | 0:24:35 |
74 | Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:24:39 |
75 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:24:59 |
76 | Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
77 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors | 0:25:07 |
78 | Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:26:33 |
79 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-Scott | 0:26:53 |
80 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
81 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-Scott | 0:26:59 |
82 | Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | 0:27:40 |
83 | Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky | 0:30:11 |
84 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:30:22 |
85 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
86 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:35:26 |
87 | Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
88 | Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:35:29 |
89 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
90 | Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) AG2R La Mondiale | |
91 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin | |
92 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
93 | Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ | |
94 | Aaron Gate (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport | |
95 | Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
96 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
97 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
98 | Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | |
99 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
100 | Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale | |
101 | Ben King (USA) Dimension Data | |
102 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
103 | Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin | |
104 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:35:35 |
105 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac | |
106 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
107 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
108 | Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie | |
109 | Taylor Phinney (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
110 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
111 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
112 | Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo | |
113 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
114 | Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
115 | Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | |
116 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Katusha-Alpecin | |
117 | Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | |
118 | Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
119 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
120 | Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie | |
121 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Quick-Step Floors | |
122 | Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
123 | Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
124 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
125 | Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ | |
126 | Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data | |
127 | Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
128 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
129 | Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky | |
130 | Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott | |
131 | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky | 0:35:45 |
132 | Taco Van Der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | |
133 | Javier Moreno (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
134 | Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport | |
135 | Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data | |
136 | Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott | |
137 | Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
138 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:35:49 |
139 | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
140 | Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 0:35:51 |
141 | Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
142 | Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
143 | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie | 0:35:53 |
144 | Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:35:55 |
145 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb | 0:36:10 |
146 | Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:36:13 |
147 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:36:15 |
148 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:36:22 |
149 | Cedric Pineau (Fra) FDJ | 0:39:01 |
OTL | Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport | |
OTL | Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Marko Kump (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo | |
DNF | Felix Großschartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
DNF | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | |
DNF | Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb | |
DNF | Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
DNF | Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data | |
DNS | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 6 | pts |
2 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida | 3 | |
3 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac | 6 | pts |
2 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida | 3 | |
3 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 10 | pts |
2 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 8 | |
3 | Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | 6 | |
4 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | 4 | |
5 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 20 | pts |
2 | Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 15 | |
3 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida | 10 | |
4 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 6 | |
5 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal | 4 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac | 20 | pts |
2 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 15 | |
3 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 10 | |
4 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 6 | |
5 | Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky | 4 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | AG2R La Mondiale | 13:59:42 |
2 | Movistar Team | 0:01:25 |
3 | Bahrain-Merida | 0:05:27 |
4 | UAE Team Emirates | 0:09:00 |
5 | Team Sky | 0:11:30 |
6 | Cannondale-Drapac | 0:12:04 |
7 | FDJ | 0:15:07 |
8 | Katusha-Alpecin | 0:15:13 |
9 | Lotto Soudal | 0:16:07 |
10 | Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:19:06 |
11 | BMC Racing Team | 0:21:28 |
12 | Dimension Data | 0:30:02 |
13 | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | 0:30:07 |
14 | Direct Energie | 0:35:30 |
15 | Quick-Step Floors | 0:37:58 |
16 | Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:39:31 |
17 | Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | 0:49:50 |
18 | Trek-Segafredo | 0:52:04 |
19 | Orica-Scott | 0:54:01 |
20 | Team Sunweb | 0:59:59 |
21 | Aqua Blue Sport | 1:02:10 |
22 | Astana Pro Team | 1:02:54 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 22:03:28 |
2 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
3 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:00:13 |
4 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:00:22 |
5 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:23 |
6 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:35 |
7 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:54 |
8 | Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky | 0:01:19 |
9 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:42 |
10 | Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:03:02 |
11 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:03:06 |
12 | Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:03:36 |
13 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | 0:03:45 |
14 | Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | 0:03:47 |
15 | Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data | 0:04:31 |
16 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:17 |
17 | Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:05:29 |
18 | Carlos Verona (Spa) Orica-Scott | 0:06:40 |
19 | Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ | 0:07:28 |
20 | Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot - Nederlandse Loterij | 0:09:09 |
21 | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ | 0:09:55 |
22 | Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team | 0:10:08 |
23 | Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida | 0:10:14 |
24 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida | 0:10:54 |
25 | Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:12:10 |
26 | Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data | 0:12:43 |
27 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:14:18 |
28 | Daan Olivier (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:15:53 |
29 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:15:56 |
30 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie |