Briton Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) won the internal team duel for overall victory. His immediate rival João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) performed strongly in the final mountain Time Trial to take the stage win.
Like the previous days, the final stage of this year’s Tour de Suisse was a demonstration of strength by UAE Team Emirates. Two exciting contests developed on the 15.7 kilometre route from Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollon. One was for overall victory and the other for third place in the overall standings.
Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) had the better starting position for third place. However, last year’s winner Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) set off like a rocket in the final Time Trial gaining more than a minute on the Colombian. As a result, he snatched the last podium place in the overall standings.
Almeida set the bar high in the battle for overall victory taking a commanding lead following his ride.
“Two kilometres before the end, I wasn’t sure if it would be enough,” said Adam Yates in the winner’s interview, ” João Almeida was extremely fast today. I knew that he could push at the top and I was already over the limit”.
In the end it was enough, as he crossed the finish line just 8 seconds behind. This meant that he maintained an overall lead of 22 seconds over his teammate. The dominance of UAE Team Emirates was impressive, with third-placed Mattias Skjelmose more than three minutes behind the winner.
Almost a clean sweep for Adam Yates
At the podium ceremony, Yates celebrated several times. In addition to the GC win, he claimed victory in the mountains classification. Add to that the points jersey. Mattias Skjelmose, who finished third, was unsurprisingly the winner of the young rider classification.
There was little joy for the Swiss in the final stage. The best placed Swiss rider today was Matteo Badilatti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) in 21st place, ensuring that he remained the best Swiss rider in the GC, 10 minutes behind the leader in 15th place. – www.tourdesuisse.ch
