Tour de Suisse 2018: Stage 9

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January 1 - June 17, Bellinzona (ITT), Frauenfeld, Road - WorldTour

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As we pick up the action on the final day of the Tour de Suisse, Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) has set the day's fastest time so far. The Croatian's 40:10 is enough to put him ahead of early pace-setters Peter Koning (Aqua Blue Sport) and Taylor Phinney (EF-Drapac), who clocked times of 41:26 and 41:37, respectively. 

The start times for the day's 34.1km time trial are available here. The riders set off at one-minute intervals early in the day, with two-minute gaps between the final ten starters. Overall lead Richie Porte (BMC) will be the 140th and final rider to roll down the start ramp.

The GC picture is as follows ahead of today's concluding stage:

Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) has ridden well in support of Porte on this Tour de Suisse, and the Italian crosses the finish line in 41:15, good enough for the second-best time thus far.

Nikias Arndt (Sunweb) has set a new best time at the first intermediate check after 9km, clocking 11:12. That is two seconds up on Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott).

Meyer, meanwhile, has reached the second check point (19.7km) and his 23:55 is the best time there, 13 seconds up on Bodnar.

Arndt is doing his best to keep pace with Meyer. The German reaches the second checkpoint with the second best time. His 24:06 is 11 seconds down on Meyer.

Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana Pro Team) reaches the finish in 41:17 for the third best time to date.

Cameron Meyer can't quite maintain his tempo over the back end of the course, and he crosses the line with the second best time thus far. His 40:21 is 11 seconds down on Bodnar.

Stefan Kung (BMC) is out on the course and it will be fascinating to see what the Swiss rider can do at the first intermediate time check. 

Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) has clocked the quickest time at the second check. His 23:25 is some 30 seconds quicker than Meyer at the same point.

 Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) had clocked the quickest time at the second check, but his 23:55 has just been bettered by his teammate Michael Matthews, who went through the same point 1.4 seconds quicker.

Kung, meanwhile, has hit the first check point with the 5th best time, 9 seconds down on Arndt's fast 11:12 start. Arndt, incidentally, finished in a very solid 40:28.

Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) has relieved Bodnar of the hot seat. The Dane comes home in 40:03, 7 seconds faster than Bodnar. Sunweb's riders have all been performing very strongly this afternoon, which augurs well for Wilco Kelderman and Sam Oomen later on.

Tejay van Garderen (BMC) sets a new best time at the second check, 20 seconds up on Matthews.

Stefan Kung reaches the same point with the second best time, his 23:36 is just over a second behind van Garderen.

Matthews reaches the finish in 40:11 for the third best time to date.

We're into the final tranche of starters on this Tour de Suisse. Simon Spilak has rolled down the start ramp, while Steven Kruijswijk is the next in line.

Away from the Tour de Suisse, Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) has sealed overall victory at the Tour of Slovenia by winning the final time trial.

We're into the final five starters here as Sam Oomen (Sunweb) begins his effort. Enric Mas (Quick-Step), Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Richie Porte (BMC) will follow him.

A fine effort by Tejay van Garderen, but the American comes up just short. His 40:07 is good enough for the second best time, 4 seconds down on Andersen. Can Kung go better?

Kung took flight over the final kilometres of the course and the Swiss champion stops the clock with the day's best time to date. His 39:45 is 18 seconds quicker than Andersen. He is the only rider to cover the course inside 40 minutes.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) takes a deep breath on the start ramp and begins his effort. Overhauling Porte in this time trial seems most improbable, and the Colombian's hope will be that he can hold off Kelderman and defend his second place overall.

Race leader Richie Porte smiles at the applause as he sits in the start house, and then nods his head in time with the countdown before rolling down the ramp and beginning his effort.

Enric Mas reaches the first check point in 11:47, two seconds down on Oomen. Fuglsang, meanwhile, reached the same point in 11:28.

Wilco Kelderman hits the 9km mark in 11:35.

11:50 for Quintana at the 9km mark. He has lost 15 seconds to Kelderman in these opening kilometres.

Richie Porte hits the 9km mark in 11:36. That's 23 seconds down on Arndt's quickest time, but he's 14 seconds quicker than Quintana and breaking even with Kelderman, and thus well on course for overall victory.

The virtual overall standings put Porte 30 seconds clear of Quintana and 51 up on Kelderman. Mas is on course for 4th overall, while Jakob Fuglsang is putting in a solid time trial and might take 5th off Oomen before the day is out.

Fuglsang clocks 23:54, the 4th best time, at the second intermediate check. Oomen goes through in 24:28.

Mikel Landa is well off the pace, incidentially. The Basque hit the second time check in an underwhelming 25:25.

And with that, Fulgsang has just caught Landa for two minutes...

24:24 for Kelderman at the second time check, some 48 seconds off van Garderen's quickest time at that point.

Quintana reaches 19.7km in 24:48. That's the 39th best time, 1:12 behind van Garderen.

Richie Porte clocks the 11th best time at the 19.7km mark. His 24:10 is 35 seconds behind van Garderen. He is 38 seconds up on Quintana and 14 ahead of Kelderman, however, and heading for overall victory.

In the virtual GC, Porte has 55 seconds on Quintana and 1:06 on Kelderman. Fuglsang is drawing ever closer to a podium slot, however. He needs to make up just 6 seconds on Kelderman over the final part of the course to move onto the podium. 

Kruijswijk reaches the finish in 41:10, well off the pace of Kung.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) crosses the finish in 40:22. It's good enough for 8th on the stage, 38 seconds down on Kung - but will it be enough to put him on the podium?

Oomen crosses the line in 41:17, 1:32 down on Kung.

Enric Mas crosses the line in 41:15, 1:30 down on Kung.

Kelderman reaches the finish in 41:18, 1:32 behind Kung. It looks as though Fuglsang has done enough to finish on the podium.

Quintana comes home in 41:43, 1:58 behind Kung.

Richie Porte takes no riks in the finale and reaches the finish in 40:48, good enough for 14th on the stage - and to seal final overall victory at the Tour de Suisse.

Stefan Kung (BMC) wins stage 9 of the Tour de Suisse. Richie Porte (BMC) wins the general classification.

Jakob Fulgsang finishes second overall at the Tour de Suisse. Quintana takes third as Kelderman drops off the podium.

Porte may not have taken visible risks in the finale, but it seems his radio earpiece had malfunctioned during the stage, and his first reaction on crossing the line was to check with BMC press officer Phoebe Haymes to confirm that he had in fact won the Tour de Suisse.

Results:

General classification:

Thanks for joining our live coverage from the Tour de Suisse this afternoon and throughout the week. Full results, report and pictures are available here.

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