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Tour de Suisse stage 5 - live coverage

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Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse brings the peloton from Gstaad to Leukerbad, where the early climb of the Col du Pillon gives the break a chance to form, while the final haul to the finish should see the GC men to the fore. 

The peloton rolls out from Gstaad at 13.00 local time, and they will tackle a 1.5km neutralised zone before the official start. 

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) wears the yellow jersey after winning stages 2 and 3, but the GC picture will surely look rather different by this evening. 

General classification after stage 4

Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) won yesterday's stage beating Benjamin Thomas (Groupama-FDJ) and Joey Rosskopf (Rally Cycling) in a three-up sprint on the Gstaad airfield. Read the full report here.

The peloton is rolling through the neutralised zone ahead of the official start of stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse. Four classified climbs and 2850m of total climbing await on the road to Leukerbad.

There is one non-starter to report, with Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) having withdrawn from the race.

-175km

Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) and Anthony Turgis (Total Direct Energie) attack from the peloton in the opening kilometres, and they have established a small lead. 

Turgis and Stewart don't get very far, however, and they are soon brought to heel by the peloton. 

-168km

Another five-man move briefly opens a gap over the peloton but they, too, are pegged back just as the Col du Pillon begins in earnest.

-161km

-159km

And on the descent, Van der Poel flings himself onto the offensive. The Dutchman escapes in the company of Samitier and Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious)...

-155km

Van der Poel is showing no sign of relenting, and the three leaders have extended their advantage over the peloton to 35 seconds.

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), meanwhile, is the victim of a puncture on the descent of the Pillon, where Van der Poel's attack has ensured a very high pace.

-143km

Poels, meanwhile, has rejoined the peloton after his mechanical mishap.

-133km

Van der Poel and company are extending their lead over the peloton in the valley. 1:10 the gap.

-125km

A fine solo effort from Imhof, who has managed to make his way across to Van der Poel, Samitier and Pernsteiner. The Swiss team had been among the squads trying to reel in the move before Imhof's counter-attack.

-120km

-117km

-112km

-105km

A reminder of the overall standings before today's stage and a reminder that race leader Mathieu van der Poel is currently three minutes up the road...

The second-highest rider on GC in this break is Hermannn Pernsteiner, who began the day 4:15 behind Van der Poel. The Austrian placed 10th overall in last year's Giro d'Italia and 15th in the previous season's Vuelta a España.

-85km

Away from the Tour de Suisse, it has just been officially confirmed that the Grand Prix de Québec and Grand Prix de Montréal will not take place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. It is the second year in succession that the events have been cancelled, though the organiser said it hoped they would return to the calendar in 2022. "As of today, the organizers of major Canadian events still have no guarantees that the public health regulations needed to hold the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal will be in effect at the end of the summer,"  said Sébastien Arsenault, president and CEO of Événements GPCQM. "There are still too many uncertainties regarding the opening of borders, mandatory quarantine and conditions for large gatherings."

-78km

The pace has been high all day, and it's showing few signs of relenting. Van der Poel et al covered 50km in the second hour of racing alone.

-65km

Away from the Tour de Suisse, Tadej Pogačar has signalled his Tour de France intentions further with victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Slovenia. Read more here.

-46km

Israel Start-Up Nation and Ineos are also prominent at the head of the peloton, where the pace is rising ahead of the final trio of climbs on today's stage.

Claudio Imhof has been on the offensive throughout this week and he is again whole-hearted in his efforts as the break approaches the foot of the category 3 Varenstrasse.

-39km

Van der Poel, Samitier and Pernsteiner have a lead of 48 seconds over a peloton where Ineos are now gathered en masse at the front and setting the pace. 

-38km

Gavin Mannion (Rally) attacks from the peloton, meanwhile, and blows past Imhof as he looks to pick up some king of the mountains points at the top.

There won't be points for Mannion for 4th place here, mind, but perhaps he is hopeful he can bridge across to the leaders and stay clear on the next category 1 ascent. Amitious, considering the small margins.

-36km

-31km

Considerable confusion in the peloton as they tackle a roundabout, with many riders going the wrong way around. They are forced to cut across a grass divider to get back on the route but while some riders lost positions, mercifully, there were no fallers.

-30km

-29km

-27.5km

Mattia Cattaneo leads through the sprint, picking up 3 bonus seconds. Now Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-QuickStep wind up the pace on the final approach to Erschmaat.

The peloton splinters even before the climb begins. Van der Poel is among the riders to be dropped.

Tom Dumoulin drops back through the rapidly reducing peloton, while Mike Teunissen sets the pace for Jumbo-Visma.. Sam Oomen is the team's leader on this Tour de Suisse.

-25km

-24km

-23.5km

-23km

-22.5km

-22km

Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) has been distanced by the group of favourites on this penultimate climb.

-21km

Alaphilippe has no teammates left in this group of favourites, as Cattaneo and Vansevenant have been distanced. Jakob Fuglsang is still riding strongly in this group for Astana, and he's tucked in just behind the Ineos duo of Dunbar and Carapaz.

-20km

Antwan Tolhoek is brought back by the group of favourites, where Dunbar is still doing all the work, with Carapaz tucked on his wheel. They are 45 seconds behind Chaves with a little under 2km of the climb to go.

Chaves continues to pile on the pressure, and his lead is still yawning outwards. With a kilometre of the climb to go, his buffer is at 47 seconds.

-19km

Fuglsang attacks from the chasing group, causing it to fragment. Woods, Uran, Carapaz, Alaphilippe, Schachmann and Pozzovivo are among those trying to follow the Dane.

-18km

Situation

-16km

-14km

Chaves makes an error on a corner and he essentially rides into a driveway to bail out. The Colombian manages to slow to a halt before he falls, but it's cost him most of his lead on Fuglsang. He gets going again without undue delay, but his lead is down to 6 seconds.

-10.5km

-10km

Alaphilippe drops back to take a bidon from the team car inside the final 9km, which might prove costly at day's end unless the commissaires have changed the cut-off for feeding from the car.

-8km

The climb to the line is more shallow than the preceding ascent, and Chaves and Fuglsang are exchanging turns on the front. Dunbar has been distanced from the chasing group after a fine afternoon of work, and it's now Antwan Tolhoek who leads on behalf of his Jumbo-Visma teammate Sam Oomen.

-6km

-5.5km

-5km

-4.5km

Michael Woods attacks in the chasing group, but Uran shuts him down. When the pace relents slightly, Carapaz has a go...

Carapaz has opened a gap over the rest of the chasing group and the Ecuadorian is in lone pursuit of Fuglsang.

-4km

Fuglsang has a lead of 14 over Carapaz, who climbs with purpose out of the saddle.

Woods attacks again from the chasing group. Pozzovivo and Uran can follow, but Alaphilippe and Hamilton cannot...

-3.5km

-3km

Carapaz catches Fuglsang inside the final 3km. The Ecuadorian kicks in a bit to drop Fuglsang instantly, but the Astana man manages to hold the wheel...

-2km

-1.5km

-1km

Carapaz keeps piling on the pressure in the final kilometre. He's eyeing the yellow jersey, while Fuglsang will have designs on stage victory.

Fuglsang kicks for home with 250m to go, but Carapaz responds...

Richard Carapaz (Ineos) wins stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Premier Tech).

Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) wins the sprint for third, 37 seconds down, ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep). 

Result

General classification

 

LEUKERBAD SWITZERLAND JUNE 10 Richard Carapaz of Ecuador and Team INEOS Grenadiers celebrates at arrival ahead of Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark and Team Astana Premier Tech during the 84th Tour de Suisse 2021 Stage 5 a 1752km stage from Gstaad to Leukerbad 1385m UCIworldtour tds tourdesuisse on June 10 2021 in Leukerbad Switzerland Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

After his early attacking, Mathieu van der Poel rolls home in a gruppetto more than 20 minutes down. The Dutchman's remarkable early move meant that this stage was run off at fearsome intensity.

Richard Carapaz (Ineos) on his victory: "I'm really happy. It's something we've been working on all week. We knew it was a special day. We wanted to think about the general classification of course and the possibility of winning a stage was there. I did both so I'm happy.

Tour de Suisse 2021 - 85th Edition - 5th stage Gstaad - Leukerbad 175,2 km - 10/06/2021 - Jakob Fuglsang (DEN - Astana - Premier Tech) - Richard Carapaz (ECU - Ineos Grenadiers) - photo Peter De Voecht/PN/BettiniPhoto©2021

(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Julian Alaphilippe has been docked 20 seconds for taking a bidon 9km from the finish - it's becoming a speciality for the Frenchman - and so he is now 53 seconds off the yellow jersey of Carapaz.

Revised general classification

 

Julian Alaphilippe on his penalty: "I was à bloc, I needed to drink, and my director said I could take a last bidon, but at the moment I was taking it he hesitated a bit. He had just received the order from the commissaire – apparently it was no longer authorized. I’d just thrown my bidon, I needed to drink, so I took it. Apparently I’ve been penalized but that doesn’t change anything at all."

More from Alaphilippe: "It was a really nice stage – fast all day. In the final I expected a hard race and was focused up front. The rhythm was very high and I gave it my all. The last climb was a bit more tactical, with some attacks, and I was focused on my tempo because I would have exploded if I’d followed every attack. In the end it was done à la pédale and I was in my place, so no regrets."

A full report, results and pictures from today's stage of the Tour de Suisse are available here. We'll be back with more live coverage from stage 6 tomorrow.

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