Tour de Suisse 2021

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Richard Carapaz wins Tour de Suisse

Tour de Suisse stage 8 – as it happened

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Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) won the 2021 Tour de Suisse, sealing victory after finishing with the main GC group on the mountainous final stage in Andermatt.

The Ecuadorian laid the foundations for his victory on the stage 5 summit finish at Leukerbad, catching and beating Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech) to the line after attacking the favourites group and putting 39 seconds into his main rivals.

Stage 7's time trial, which took in an ascent and descent of the 9.5-kilometre Oberalppass, saw Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) take a comprehensive 40-second victory to move into second overall as Fuglsang dropped to fifth.

The final stage was another mountain day featuring the Gotthardpass, with Bahrain Victorious' Gino Mäder taking the stage honours as Fuglsang's ninth place, 12 seconds up on third-place sitter Max Schachmann and grabbing the final podium spot after Julian Alaphilippe's early abandon to be present at the birth of his child.

Carapaz's victory saw him beat Uran by 17 seconds after eight days of racing, while Fuglsang took third overall at 1:15, four seconds up on fourth-placed Schachmann. 

Tour de Suisse date: June 6 to 13, 2021
Distance: 1,013km 
Start: Frauenfeld, Switzerland - 2:17 to 5:20 p.m.  (CET) 
Finish: Andermatt, Switzerland - 12:45 to 5:20 p.m. (CET) 
Cyclingnews live coverage: each day 
Live streaming: TBA

The 2021 Tour de Suisse began on June 6 for a total of 1,013 kilometres of racing and 17,844 metres of altitude gain across eight days. Absent from the race calendar last year due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it was the first cancellation of the Tour de Suisse since the Second World War.

This year’s 84th edition begins in Frauenfeld with an 11-kilometre time trial, the first of two races against the clock for the week. The route heads counter-clockwise to the Lake Zurich region, across the Mittelland into Valais and culminates in the heart of the Alps for the 159.5-km Queen stage on June 13.

World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) will make his first appearance at the Swiss stage race in his build up for the Tour de France. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) are among the big names set to join Alaphilippe, as well as Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), who makes a return racing after a fourth-month break to reassess his career and desire for life as a professional rider.

The 2019 race was won by a 22-year-old Egan Bernal of Team Ineos. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) has won a record 17 stages since 2011, including the points classification a record eight times.

2021 Tour de Suisse route

The first half of the Tour de Suisse 2021 began with a fast time trial and will have one flat finish for the sprinters plus two hilly stages for fast finishes. The second half was all about climbing, with a mountain time trial and the three-peaked alpine circuit of the Furka-Grimsel-Sustenpass.

Because of heavy snows in the high alpine region and updates from affected regions for snow removal and planned opening dates of Alpine passes, organisers of the Tour de Suisse made adjustments to stages 6 and 8.

Stage 6 from Fiesch to Disentis-Sedrun on June 11 was reduced from 162km to 130km but still included more than 3,100 metres of climbing. The race didn't use the Nufenen Pass, the highest road in the country, as originally planned. The race went over the north side of the Gotthard Pass into Ticino, from there as planned over the Lukmanier Pass to Disentis-Sedrun.

The eighth and final stage was adjusted due to the closure of Susten Pass. While the elevation gain has been slightly reduced by less than 100 metres, it is still 3,560 metres of ascending over 160km, the distance increasing from 118km. The route led from Andermatt over the Oberalp Pass, the Lukmanier into the Leventina and via the south side of the Gotthard Pass back to a summit finish at Andermatt.

2021 Tour de Suisse stages

• Stage 1, June 6 - Frauenfeld to Frauenfeld, 10.9km (ITT)
• Stage 2, June 7 - Neuhausen at the Rhine Falls to Lachen, 173km
• Stage 3, June 8 - Lachen to Pfaffnau, 185km
• Stage 4, June 9 - St. Urban to Gstaad, 171km
• Stage 5, June 10 - Gstaad to Leukerbad, 172km
• Stage 6, June 11 - Fiesch - Disentis to Sedrun, 130km
• Stage 7, June 12 - Disentis - Sedrun to Andermatt, 23.2km (ITT)
• Stage 8, June 13 - Andermatt to Andermatt, 160km

2021 Tour de Suisse teams

• UAE Team Emirates 
• Qhubeka Assos  
• Jumbo-Visma  
• Trek-Segafredo  
• Movistar  
• Lotto Soudal  
• Israel Start-Up Nation  
• Ineos Grenadiers  
• Groupama-FDJ  
• Team DSM  
• Deceuninck-QuickStep  
• Cofidis  
• Bora-Hansgrohe  
• Team BikeExchange  
• Astana-Premier Tech  
• AG2R Citroën Team
• Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
• EF Education-Nippo
• Swiss Cycling Team  
• Total Direct Energie  
• Rally Cycling  
• Bahrian Victorious   
• Alpecin-Fenix