tour de suisse stage 8 2023

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The world champion went solo over the final climb, winning by a clear margin over a group of chasers.

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Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) put in one of the rides of his career to win the final Tour de Suisse time trial, but it wasn’t enough to take the overall title from Mattias Skjelmose.

Ayuso started the day just 18 seconds away from Skjelmose and went all out to try and take the GC win. He was four seconds slower than Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) at the opening intermediate, but he gained nine seconds on the Belgian by the second intermediate, beating him at the finish line by eight seconds.

It looked as though Skjelmose might be about to lose his overall when he went through the first intermediate some 23 seconds down on Evenepoel and 19 behind Ayuso. However, he turned his fortunes around on the climb to bring that down to just 10 seconds behind the Spaniard.

Skjelmose put another second into Ayuso on the descent to finish third on the TT, one second behind Evenepoel, and take the overall win by nine seconds.

“It’s very mixed. Of course, I’m happy that I won the stage, it’s the second time trial that I won this year so I keep on proving myself in this type of racing style, but the primary goal was to win the GC and I came second so it’s a bit of a pity. Mattias was super strong and I just have to congratulate him,” Ayuso said.

“I wanted to gift the GC to Gino [Mäder] but also the stage, I think he would have been happy for me. Of course, this goes to him. Racing is a bit more on the side, you don’t feel like celebrating but I think everybody here gave their best to Gino, Mattias is also thinking of him to give the GC for him. I’m happy I could win to try and honor his memory.”

For Skjelmose, this victory at the Tour de Suisse is his first WorldTour stage racing victory.

“I thought it was possible, I always race to win. Even though I had a disadvantage with the suit, I proved that my shape was good and I’m ready for the Tour. I always believed in this,” Skjelmose said.

“It’s a lot of big emotions. It’s a combination of a lot of sacrifices for me, and of course, Gino is dead. I think everything combined made me very emotional and I think a lot of it had to come out at the finish line. For me, the most important thing was that Gino’s parents and family wanted the race to go on and they wanted us to race normally and that put my mindset right. If his closest family wanted it then that is also what we wanted to do.”

Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step) had a long sit in the hotseat after setting the early benchmark time. He would be replaced by Stefan Bissegger (EF Education First-EasyPost), who set off from the start ramp just after Asgreen completed his ride and beat him by 13 seconds.

Bissegger had a tense wait to see if he had done enough to take the win, but there were still some big hitters to come, many of who were in the fight for the overall title. Wout van Aert pushed the Swiss man close at the opening time check but came to the finish line five seconds slower.

It was one worry done, but there was still more to come with Evenepoel setting the fastest time at the opening intermediate check. Ayuso came through just four seconds down on the Belgian at the first check while Skjelmose shipped 23 seconds, putting Ayuso in the hotseat for the overall victory.

The second half of the course was different with a challenging climb followed by a technical descent toward the finish line. It was still possible for the gaps to change, one way or the other, before the finish.

By the second checkpoint at 20km, Ayuso had reversed the gap to Evenepoel and he was now five seconds up on him with the narrow descent to the finish still to come. Evenepoel’s chances of jumping to the top of the overall standings appeared to have evaporated but a stage win was still on offer.

His efforts were evident as he mounted a pavement on the exit of a corner as he tried to hold as much speed as possible. It worked as he crossed the line in a time that was 15 seconds quicker than Bissegger, knocking the Swiss off the hotseat.

Further back down the course, Skjelmose passed a struggling Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroën) on the climb, but his biggest concern was the pace of Ayuso. He would have been happy to find out that he had taken more than half of his deficit away to pass through the second time check at just 10 seconds behind the Spanish rider.

Evenepoel stood drinking a bottle of water near the finish line as Ayuso came through to topple his time, beating him by seven seconds. He would have to wait to see if he had done enough to take the overall title, however.

Skjelmose was coming back into it and he gained another second on Ayuso over the descent to take the overall title.

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Stage 7: Remco Evenepoel honors Gino Mäder with stage win

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) pointed to the sky before holding his hand to his heart as he crossed the line to take a solo victory on stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse.

Evenepoel, who attacked with around 16km to go, was honoring Gino Mäder, who died Friday after crashing on stage 5.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) led the chasing group across the line to take second with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) in third.

There was no change in the overall classification after organizers decided overnight to take the general classification times at 25km to go, meaning that Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) would take the leader’s jersey into the final stage.

A somber mood still lay over the race Saturday morning following the death of Gino Mäder the day before. After the final 20km of stage 6 was ridden as a procession to honor the Swissman, stage 7 was effectively the resumption of the race proper.

However, with the organizer announcing that the GC times would be taken at 25 kilometers to go, the peloton self-neutralized the stage up until that point.

The stage 7 race route went through Mäder’s hometown of Flawil at about 65 kilometers to go with huge crowds lining the street to clap the peloton on without their home hero.

As the stage approached the 25km to go mark, teams lined up in color order to protect those in the general classification, but nobody knew what would happen once it had been passed. The pace did noticeably pick up as the peloton passed through but there was no immediate reaction in terms of attacks off the front.

A third-category climb still lay before the peloton and it was there that moves started to happen. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was among the first to go with 21km to go, but he was quickly brought back.

The push in pace saw the peloton begin to break up with some getting distanced while others chose not to contest the finale. As the race hit the top of the climb, less than 20 riders remained at the front.

Evenepoel attacked over the top of the climb. Welay Berhe (Jayco-AlUla) tried to follow the world champion but couldn’t get onto his wheel. With 5km to go, Evenepoel had opened up a cavernous gap of 45 seconds on the chasing group behind and his win seemed almost certain.

The gap remained as he passed under the flamme rouge, despite a steady chase from behind. As he rode the final meters of the stage, he turned to the television cameras and pointed to the sky. He did the same as he crossed the finish line before holding his hand to his heart.

Stage 6 canceled with peloton riding 20km procession in honor of Gino Mäder

It was announced Friday morning that Gino Mäder had died as a result of the injuries he sustained in a crash during the final descent of stage 5. The race organizer and riders decided to cancel stage 6 and complete the final 20km of the route in a procession in honor of Mäder.

Read more: Gino Mäder: Smart, polite, rational and loyal like few

Stage 5: Juan Ayuso takes win after daring solo attack

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) took an impressive solo victory after the Spaniard attacked with around 15km to go on the final climb on stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse.

Ayuso only started his season in April after a leg injury forced him to delay his racing opener, and he has suffered at times during the Tour de Suisse, but he put in a pitch-perfect performance on the roads to La Punt.

The 20-year-old attacked out of the yellow jersey group, which had just attacked an already reduced bunch. He quickly bridged the gap to the day’s breakaway riders before pushing on alone over the top of the final climb before putting in an edge-of-the-seat ride down the descent to the finish line.

Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) regained the yellow jersey after taking some bonus seconds on the finish line, while Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroën ) lost four seconds in the final meters. Ayuso’s attack sees him climb three places into third at 18 seconds behind the lead.

“The two races I’ve done have been here [in Switzerland] and I’m happy to be able to win a stage in both races. Now, we are going to focus on the GC, it’s going to be hard but I think it’s possible so we will fight for that,” Ayuso said.

“Yesterday, I had no legs and I just had to suffer but today I felt much better. It was a very hard stage, very long with lots of climbing and lots at altitude so it was very tough. But, at the end, when the pace started increasing, I felt better and better. I attacked with four or five kilometers to the top of the climb but I was confident that I could hold the gap.”

Following Wednesday’s summit finish, another mountain day awaited the riders for stage 5 with a 211km ride from Fiesch to La Punt. Gall wore the yellow jersey on his back after his brave attack to win the day before, snatching the race lead from Trek-Segafredo’s Mattias Skjelmose.

Once again, the breakaway took a long time to form with the peloton bringing back several possible moves before an 18-man attack finally got up the road after around 40 kilometers of racing. Some of the riders to get clear were Neilson Powless (EF Education First-EasyPost), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates).

As the final climb reared up, the unity within the breakaway group began to falter and attacks started to come off the front with Van Aert and Simmons among those that had a go, but they weren’t to last. The lead group thinned out on the climb to the Albulapass before an attack from Powless with 21km, when the gap to the bunch sat at just over two minutes, to go shed yet more riders.

Just three riders could go with Powless. They were Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), and Antonio TIberi, who is riding just his second race for Bahrain-Victorious since being fired by Trek-Segafredo. That would soon drop to three with Lazkano getting shelled from the group.

Simmons tried to bridge over to the leaders but an extra push in pace saw him dangling behind, tantalizingly close to the front group.

Back in the peloton, the pace remained fairly steady until AG2R-Citroën decided to put the hammer down with just over 15km to go. The effort by the French squad had an immediate impact with Skjelmose and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) getting dropped.

Going with Gall were Ayuso, Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma), Romain Bardet (Team DSM), and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious). Ayuso attacked out of the group soon after, with none of the other riders attempting to go with him.

Up front, Powless made several attempts to crack his companions before the top of the climb, but he kept being reeled back. The repeated efforts by the American took their toll in the end and he was distanced and soon caught by the attacking Ayuso.

The Spaniard kicked on and caught up with the remaining two leaders with 12km to go, almost immediately distancing them. After around four kilometers of attacking at the top of the final climb, Ayuso had almost a minute on the yellow jersey group, and even more on Evenepoel and Skjelmose.

He still had 10km of descent to negotiate before he could celebrate, though. Ayuso pulled no punches on the descent, using every bit of road that he could on the fast, sweeping roads down into the valley to ride onto victory.

Stage 4: Felix Gall takes stage win, nabs race lead from Mattias Skjelmose

Felix Gall (AG2R-Citroën) upset the favorites on stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse 2023, taking the stage win after a late solo break.

The Austrian rider attacked with just over 20 kilometers to go and held off an elite group of riders to score the victory in Leukerbad by over a minute.

The win and the added bonus seconds saw him take the overall race lead from Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) by just two seconds with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) now in third at 16 seconds down.

“I am still a little bit overwhelmed by the situation, I don’t really know what to think. I cannot really believe it. My first professional victory at the Tour de Suisse and now the leader’s jersey. Yesterday, I felt super good, I think I’m in the shape of my life,” Gall said after the stage.

“We said already this morning that if I feel the same today on the last climb that I have to give it a go because if we want to get a nice result we have to… I didn’t think it was possible because it was still a long way to the finish line, but I have to give it a try. If I have the best legs of my life, then I am not going to wait in the bunch and look at the others.”

It was a fast start to the day with the breakaway taking just under an hour to finally form. In the end, 10 riders — including U.S. rider Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM) — got off the front of the peloton. Gino Mäder (Bahrain-Victorious) later joined to make it 11 riders after attacking on Crans Montana with about 70km to go.

Jumbo-Visma helped to keep tight control of the bunch, ensuring the breakaway was never too far away. As the bunch hit the final climb of the day, the gap was at 1:45 and still reducing.

Gall soon took his chance to go for glory, attacking out of the peloton and joining forces with his AG2R-Citroën teammate Stan Dewulf, who was one of the early escapees. He quickly moved through the leading group before going on solo.

Bardet, who started the day 1:15 behind the race leader Mathias Skjelmose, attacked out of the group of favorites with just under 18km to go. There was no immediate response from the group and Bardet soon linked up with Vermaerke, but the pair would soon be reeled in.

Notably missing from the group that brought back Bardet was the world champion Evenepoel. The Belgian had been yo-yoing off the back up the final ascent and he had been distanced once again, forced to grind his way back to the group.

With 16km to go, the pace had slowed enough for a significant number of riders to bridge back up until Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) pushed the pace again and caused some more splits. A subsequent effort by Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) saw Evenepoel slip off the back again with 15km to go, while Skjelmose remained nestled into the group with others happy to do the work and take the pressure off his shoulders.

Meanwhile, up front, Gall continued to set his own pace and held over a minute on the group of favorites with the time holding relatively steady despite the accelerations.

Bardet attacked again with just over eight kilometers to go and Kelderman and Bilbao later joining him. Evenepoel, who had got back on a short descent, took up the pace-setting in chase of Bardet and co., despite Skjelmose sitting in the bunch.

Gall continued to push on with his gap now growing out as the big names fought among themselves. The Austrian had plenty of time to celebrate his victory with Evenepoel leading the main group of favorites across the line some 1:02 behind.

Stage 3: Mattias Skjelmose strikes on summit finish after Remco Evenepoel tries early attack

Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) struck on the Villars-sur-Ollon summit finish to take control of the Tour de Suisse 2023 and secure the biggest win of his career so far.

The Dane countered a move by Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citröen) deep in the final of the stage 3 mountaintop showdown and kicked away in the final 500m for the first WorldTour win of his career.

Gall and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) rounded out the podium atop the tough 11km climb.

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) will head to his team bus with mixed feelings after finishing fourth in his first mountain stage since he caught COVID-19.

The world champion lit up the final with a long-range attack but was forced to do all the work by his rivals before being left legless when they rode away. However, he remains well poised overall, 17 seconds back on new race leader Skjelmose.

“I had a big question mark about my climbing abilities [before the stage],” Skjelmose said at the finish. “This may not be the hardest mountain stage, but it’s still a long climb. I did really good so we can now put a smaller question mark at least.

“And this, it’s my first WorldTour win, it’s incomparable.”

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) lost his grip on the race lead when the race heated up in the finale and slid way down the classification. He’ll likely go easy through the rest of the week to refocus on the stage 8 time trial.

The stage Tuesday all came down to a classification crunch on the Villars-sur-Ollon summit finish. The 10.7km, 7.8 percent Alp is the main mountain of the whole race, and riders like Evenepoel, Skjelmose, and Ayuso wanted to make it count.

The day’s early break was caught inside the final 40km and Soudal Quick-Step piledrived into the tough climb to the finish.

Evenepoel exploded out of his team’s wheels at 6.4km to go, and only Skjelmose and Gall could counter.

The world champion was forced to do all the pulling on the front, and a bunch that included Ayuso, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) clawed to within meters of the leaders.

Gall threw a crucial acceleration just as the catch was about to be made, around two kilometers from the line. Skjelmose bridged to the Austrian in the final kilometer and launched some 500m out to score his first WorldTour win with a huge victory roar.

A dozen seconds down the road, Ayuso and Co. caught across to Evenepoel and spent time sat on his wheel while the rainbow jersey began to look labored. Ayuso surged late for third, and Evenepoel had to make do with winning the sprint for fourth.

More GC fireworks will likely light up Wednesday and Thursday in two more mountainous finals. Stage 4 on Wednesday tracks a number of climbs before a short kicker to the finish, while stage 5 finishes on the descent of the Cat.1 Oberalppass.

“I will try to defend the jersey. There are other strong teams, but we will try our best,” Skjelmose said. “Hopefully we can do really good and defend until the last TT, and then it will be all up to me.”

Stage 2: Biniam Girmay outsprints Wout van Aert in bunch finish

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) took his second victory of the season with a blistering turn of speed on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse 2023.

Girmay launched his sprint with just over 200 meters to go after jumping out of the wheel of Movistar’s Ivan García Cortina. The Eritrean soon overhauled Van Aert, who had already started his sprint earlier, and held the Belgian off to win by a clear margin.

Van Aert faded a little bit further, ultimately finishing third behind Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ). Team DSM’s Pavel Bittner finished fourth with Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) getting home in fifth place.

The win is Girmay’s first since he stormed to victory on the opening stage of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana in February after he missed several months of racing after a heavy fall at the Tour of Flanders.

“When I crossed the line, I was surprised,” Girmay said after the finish. “Two months ago, I had a hard crash and I didn’t have enough time to train to be in shape but today was amazing. I’ve surprised myself.”

After a time trial opener, the sprinters took their turn at the Tour de Suisse on stage 2 from Beromünster to Nottwil. Stefan Küng wore the jersey of race leader after taking victory in Sunday’s race against the clock.

Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5) and Michael Schär (AG2R-La Mondiale) were quickly allowed up the road to form the day’s breakaway. Home hero Schär was honored at the start as this is to be his final season as a professional rider.

The duo quickly gained over four minutes on the pack as the peloton looked for a simple start to the day. It was a pretty straightforward day until around 30 kilometers to go when a crash near the front of the pack felled a few riders and held up most of the peloton.

Jumbo-Visma’s Koen Bouwman was one of those that came down, but the Dutch squad was working for Van Aert and the team drilled it on the front over the final climb in an effort to drop some of the more pure sprinters. However, the tactic didn’t work and the pack prepared themselves for the eventual bunch gallop at the line.

Van Aert was one of the first riders to blink at the finish as he tried to get the jump on the others. However, he was no match for Girmay who passed him with still 100 meters to the line and kept pulling out an advantage.

Küng finished safely in the pack to retain the leader’s jersey with a five-second advantage over Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Stage 1: Stefan Küng fends off Evenepoel, Van Aert for time trial victory

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) beat back Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to take time trial victory Sunday in stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse 2023.

Küng blazed through the 12.7km test with a huge ride that put him six seconds faster than closest rival Evenepoel and into the race’s leader’s jersey.

Van Aert returned from his long post-classics racing pause with third on the stage, 10 seconds back.

Evenepoel had been touted as top favorite for the stage but will no doubt be happy with second in what was his first race since COVID-19 ended his reign at the top of the Giro d’Italia last month.

The 21-year-old U.S. talent Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) impressed with a ride to fourth, just one second behind the big TT hitters.

Victory on home roads made for something of a salve for Küng. The big Swiss was repeatedly on the fringes of victory in the northern classics and chose to end a disappointing ride through the Giro d’Italia early after he missed the mark in the two opening TTs.

“Just this morning I was talking to a friend about how long I’ve always been top-5 in time trials, and you had to go two years back to find out when I wasn’t. The last times I always missed out really close, so it’s a big relief to win here in front of a home crowd, and my family, wife, and son. It’s amazing,” Küng said at the podium.

“I wasn’t 100 percent confident, but I saw my family here and that gave me some more motivation. I knew I could do well, but I didn’t want to put expectations too high. But I always go full gas, and today it worked out.”

What emotions: @stefankueng ( @GroupamaFDJ ) wins the openning TT of the TdS23 pic.twitter.com/nJSEYURuI8 — Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 11, 2023

Küng will likely be able to defend his yellow leader’s jersey on stage 2 on Monday, which looks set for a sprint or breakaway.

Of those in the hunt for the final GC, Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) came out best. Skjelmose finished at 19 seconds on Küng.

Romain Bardet (DSM), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma) will all be disappointed after they lost 39, 44, and 52 seconds respectively.

It’s a solid start to the #TourdeSuisse2023 for @EvenepoelRemco , who finishes runner-up in Einsiedeln for just six seconds. pic.twitter.com/xkrNSOsrtI — Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) June 11, 2023

The eight-stage Swiss race opened up with Sunday’s rolling 12.7km test through Einsiedeln. A grinding 500m kick for the line seemed to catch riders out as many faded through the final stretch of their race.

Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla) recorded the first standout time of the day with a time to beat of 13.51. However, pre-stage favorites like Van Aert, Evenepoel, Küng, and European champ Stefan Bisseger (EF Education-EasyPost) were all late starters and it always looked likely the stage would be decided late on.

Sobrero spent almost 90 minutes in the hot seat before U.S. talent Sheffield booted him from the top slot when he went nine seconds faster.

The timing of the top favorites made for a fascinating end to the stage. Swiss pair Küng and Bisseger started within minutes of each other, and the Belgian ballers Van Aert and Evenepoel started in a close timeframe soon after.

Bisseger looked ragged all race and didn’t come close to Sheffield’s mark. Küng was a total opposite with what looked like an inch-perfect ride to score the fastest time so far, 11 seconds better than Sheffield.

Küng rode 57.4kph through the testing course in a result that eventually handed him his first win since February.

Van Aert and Evenepoel finished soon after Küng, but neither was able to match the Swissman’s massive ride.

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PREVIEW | Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 8 - Evenepoel, Ayuso and Skjelmose to fight for race win on hilly time-trial

Preview . A dark Tour de Suisse ends this Sunday, stage 8 will be a decisive time-trial where the overall classification will be decided, on roads where Gino Mäder used to train.

The race ends, as usual, with a time-trial. A meaningful one, as the riders race from St.Gallen to Abtwil with over 25 kilometers in distance. The general classification could end up being decided against the clock as was the case last year, however this is far from a simple effort to pace. The stage will start in Saint Gallen which is just a few kilometers away from Gino Mäder's home town of Flawil, it is expected that the roads of the region will be packed with fans paying a well deserved tribute.

Start Times & Order - Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 8 time-trial

Departure and arrival times (estimated CET):

- June 18 - Stage 8: St.Gallen - Abtwil, 25.7km. From 1:45 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Remco Evenepoel solos to sombre victory on an emotional day at the Tour de Suisse

The first 17 kilometers are quite rolling, with two small climbs, a false-flat descending section before the riders hit what may be the decisive section of the time-trial. It will be on a TT bike that the riders tackle a 1.7-kilometer climb at 7.8%, definitely a place where large seconds can be won or lost. After it's end there is no restbite, for 5 kilometers the road goes uphill, those final 3.3 mostly false-flat.

However when the riders reach the top of the hill with 4 kilometers to the finish they essentially hit the finish line. From there on the route is almost entirely downhill, very fast and without opportunity to make any serious differences. A very open TT, which will be hard to pace.

Prize Money 2023 Tour de Suisse €130,100 on offer for teams

The Weather

The wind will be present, meaningful from the north. Perhaps covered in the first kilometers but it will be felt over the flat section until half of the stage, and then the ascent should have a tailwind.

Profiles & Route Tour de Suisse 2023

The Favourites

Remco Evenepoel - Evenepoel's form has been improving throughout the race. Last year he seemed far from his best level here in Suisse but then soared in the TT. Although symbolic, he has indeed won today's stage which is as good of a sign as he could give ahead of this crucial day. He will face competition that is very hard to battle with with the gaps he's got, but the GC will certainly be what will be in his mind.

Stefan Bissegger - Let's be realistic, Bissegger has been far from his best this year, but he is here for a reason. Unlike several of his compatriots including prologue winner Stefan Küng he did not abandon the race, because he wants a win. A friend of the late Mäder, he will want to put on the ride of his life to dedicate it to him. It isn't the day that will suit him best, but I have no doubt he'll give it 110% to make it happen.

Wout van Aert - Out and out van Aert hasn't really proven to be in top form. That isn't necessary, Suisse is after all a preparation race for the Tour and worlds, but referring to the possible victory for tomorrow it won't be easy. His third place in the prologue was a good sign, but against an improving Evenepoel it'll be a hard challenge. Still if anyone can, I believe it will be van Aert.

TV Guide - Where and When to watch Tour de Suisse 2023

The stage will see some more riders in contention for a top result, but honestly Evenepoel is looking very strong and I don't realistically see anyone other than the previous two riders possibly beating him. Still the level will be quite high despite the riders who have abandoned... Matteo Sobrero , Kasper Asgreen , Max Schachmann , Mattia Cattaneo and Soren Kragh Andersen will all be in the mix.

Who will win the overall classification?

This is perhaps the most interesting and important question of the day. Before tragedy happened, the overall classification fight in Suisse delivered very exciting spectacle, with several contenders, tables turned, bad days for some, and leading into a time-trial where it's quite open. All in all, racing that is now quite rare at the top level in 2023, which in my eyes was good to see.

It all comes down to the time-trial now. The favourites let Felix Gall soar into a stage win in Leukerbad which earned him also yellow and over a minute, he starts the day in second place 8 seconds behind Mattias Skjelmose , however he will drop out of the podium - the initial prologue was also a sign he may drop out of the Top5.

Skjelmose has 18 seconds on Juan Ayuso who's ridden very well and won a similar TT in Romandie, and 46 on Remco Evenepoel . Skjelmose himself was 6th in the initial prologue and is expected to be among the best. It could be very tight if Evenepoel doesn't pull off one of his Giro-like rides. The gaps are balanced and on paper I wouldn't be surprised to see all three separated by less than 20 seconds in the final GC. I'd say Evenepoel does stand good chances of winning it, but he will need a massive ride as the competition is also of a very high level.

37 riders abandon Tour de Suisse before stage 7 including Küng, Girmay, Hirschi and Bilbao

Prediction Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 8:

*** Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert ** Stefan Bissegger, Juan Ayuso * Matteo Sobrero, Kasper Asgreen, Soren Kragh Andersen, Max Schachmann, Mattias Skjelmose

Pick : Remco Evenepoel

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from  Aigle / Centre Mondial du Cyclisme UCI  to  Villars-sur-Ollon

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Commentary David Loosli

The final stage promises to deliver excitement. The 15.7 kilometre time trial from Aigle / Centre Mondial du Cyclisme UCI to Villars-sur-Ollon includes almost 900 meters of altitude to conquer. With four tough mountain stages already in the legs, power reserves are crucial on this final stage. A lot of time can be gained but also lost. At the end of the stage, the overall victor of the Tour de Suisse 2024 will be known, and it is guaranteed to be a talented climber.

Stage Highlights

In addition to the headquarters of the International Cycling Union (UCI), Aigle is home to a velodrome for track races.

Villars-Sur-Ollon

Only 120 kilometres from Geneva and 30 kilometres from Montreux, the urban world is within easy reach.

Outdoor Activities

Located in the heart of the Vaud Alps, Villars-sur-Ollon offers a varied range of activities for hikers, cyclists and winter sports enthusiasts.

The narrow streets of Ollon are home to beautiful and historic buildings including the 13th century “Château de la Roche”.

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Tour de Suisse Stage 8 LIVE

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St Gallen - Abtwil 25.7 km Timetrial

Both men’s and women’s races do the same timetrial today. A nice bit of race design I think.

Expected finish time: 16:25-16:55 CEST

Suisse of the Day : Remco Evenepoel

Fast enough to win the whole thing as well? Probably. Skjelmose lost 13 seconds to Remco in the opening TT over half the distance. With Evenepoel’s engine a little less rusty and longer distance the 46 second lead the Dane has might not be enough.

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• 34 FELLINE Fabio
• 35 PRONSKIY Vadim * (DNS #4)
• 36 TEJADA Harold
• 37 VELASCO Simone

• 41 BILBAO Pello (DNS #7)
• 42 ARNDT Nikias (DNS #7)
• 43 MACIEJUK Filip * (DNS #7)
• 44 MÄDER Gino (DNF #5)
• 45 MIHOLJEVIĆ Fran * (DNS #7)
• 46 PRICE-PEJTERSEN Johan * (DNS #7)
• 47 TIBERI Antonio * (DNS #7)

• 51 SCHACHMANN Maximilian
• 52 FABBRO Matteo
• 53 HALLER Marco
• 54 HIGUITA Sergio
• 55 KOCH Jonas
• 56 MEEUS Jordi *
• 57 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian *

• 61 IZAGIRRE Ion
• 62 ALLEGAERT Piet
• 63 COQUARD Bryan (DNS #8)
• 64 GESCHKE Simon
• 65 LASTRA Jonathan
• 66 RENARD Alexis *
• 67 ROCHAS Rémy

• 71 URÁN Rigoberto
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• 81 KÜNG Stefan (DNS #7)
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• 91 GIRMAY Biniam * (DNS #7)
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• 117 SERRANO Gonzalo

• 121 EVENEPOEL Remco *
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• 131 LOUVEL Matis * (DNS #7)
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• 165 MOSCA Jacopo
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• 167 THEUNS Edward

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2023 Tour de Suisse, Stage 8 (Q117466818)

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Tour de Suisse 2023

Top 5 Tour de Suisse 2023

1. Mattias Skjelmose 2. Juan Ayuso + 0.09 3. Remco Evenepoel 0.45 4. Wilco Kelderman + 2.09 5. Romain Bardet + 2.41

Read about the route and start list of the 2023 Tour de Suisse.

Please click on the links in below scheme for race report/results and in-depth information on the individual stages.

Tour de Suisse 2023: stages

Tour de suisse 2023: route, profiles, more.

Click on the images to zoom

Tour de Suisse 2023: Ayuso wins thriller ITT, Skjelmose takes GC triumph

Tour de Suisse 2023 Stage 8: Start times ITT

Tour de Suisse 2023: Evenepoel honours Mäder with solo victory

Tour de Suisse 2023: Stage 6 cancelled after Gino Mäder's passing

Tour de Suisse 2023: Ayuso solos to victory, Skjelmose regains race lead

Tour of Britain: Stevie Williams wins overall as Matevž Govekar takes final bunch sprint

Rasmus Pedersen second and Ben Swift third on stage 6

How it unfolded

Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) confirmed his overall victory at the Tour of Britain by arriving safely at the finish on stage 6 in Felixstowe behind the bunch sprint which was won by Matevž Govekar (Bahrain-Victorious).

It came down to a bunch finish after a breathless day of racing from flag to flag down by the Suffolk coast, with several attacks and windy conditions leading to a chaotic final run for home. The Slovenian proved the fastest after William’s teammate Ethan Vernon lacked the top-end speed to take victory after a strong lead-out from Jake Stewart.

Goverkar hit the front with Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Danish champion Rasmus Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) in his wheel, however, he held up his effort in a huge gear all the way to the line, with the Dane taking second and the experienced Brit third.

Three-time stage winner Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) was unable to fight for the stage win after being dropped in all the attacks, crashing and eventually abandoning the race, prompting teammate Remco Evenepoel into a series of attacks in the final 15km, however, the double Olympic champion couldn’t find separation from the Israel-Premier Tech and Bahrain-Victorious-led peloton.

Williams’ GC win is his 11th victory as a professional, with Oscar Onley (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development) joining him on the overall podium 16 and 36 seconds down respectively.

“It's been a good week and we managed to take everything out of a stage race - a couple of stages and the GC so I'm really happy and proud to have this race. I'm proud of how the boys rode all week, they were fantastic. It's me standing on the podium and winning it but it was definitely a team effort,” said Williams, the first home winner at the Tour of Britain since Steve Cummings in 2016.

“After the Olympics, it was definitely a target of mine to get back into racing and I knew I was coming here in decent form. Luckily I had the legs to show it and pull it off but at the end of the day everything has to go right and everything did go right so I'm really happy.”

The final stage of the 2024 Tour of Britain saw an aggressive start right from the flag drop outside of Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast, with the riders heading south towards the finish some in Felixtsowe.

Several attacks were launched with the first breakaway group forming in the way of Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Swift and Mathias Bregnhøj (Sabgal / Anicolor), before they were joined by Cole Kessler (Lidl-Trek Future Racing), however, the action was far from done. 

As Ineos tried to bolster their position in front with Swift’s cousin Connor Swift also attempting to make the move, Israel-Premier Tech showed their intentions, happy to try and form a small break they could control to ensure Williams took victory and Vernon could go for the sprint. 

There were big countermoves launched but the one that successfully bridged the gap was made up of French duo Antoine L'Hote (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development) and Samuel Leroux (Van Rysel-Roubaix), who made it a group of six in front.

But as strong as this move seemed, more moves from Tim Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) saw the chasing peloton close to the gap almost by accident with 128km to go, bringing things back together and causing a new wave of surges.

Soudal-QuickStep were the other team trying to control things so three-time stage winner Paul Magnier could go for a fourth in what was due to be another sprint finish, and they were happy to let the next small group go. 

It was formed of Pidcock and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), who bridged across to a duo of Jacob Scott (REMBE Sauerland) and Bregnhøj, who moved into the virtual lead momentarily when the break’s lead grew past the two-minute mark, having started the day 1:59 down.

With QuickStep and Israel-Premier Tech taking over control, things calmed until there was a key change of direction inside 90km to go past Framlingham and DSM-Firmenich PostNL tried to use the wind to their advantage. 

Going from headwind to crosswind favoured their efforts but it was hard to split things, although this did put a lot of riders on the back foot, notably Magnier, who missed the split with Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe desperately working to bring him back into contention. 

This brutal pace from DSM ended the new four-man group’s day out in front and once again reignited a new wave of attacks after an already breathless opening few hours of racing. 

Eventually, a new big group of riders formed at the front in anticipation of a reduced bunch finish and Magnier hadn’t made it, prompting Israel, Uno-X and Bahrain all to work as they had sprinters capable of winning without the powerful young Frenchman present. 

Magnier would abandon the race due to a crash later on, leaving QuickStep to try and win the stage in a different way. This was taken up largely by Evenepoel, honouring the gold accents and bike he was on as Olympic champion with a series of big surges on every uphill road.

But he was marked out brilliantly by Bilbao for Bahrain and Jake Stewart for Israel, to ensure things came down to a bunch finish in Felixstowe. 

Israel-Premier Tech had the next best lead-out after Uno-X but found themselves on the front with Stewart at the 350m to-go mark. But this was too early for Vernon, who had to open up in the wind with a long way to go.

The Brit faded and was easily powered past by Govekar, whose grinding sprint in a huge gear saw him hold off the charge coming from Pedersen and Swift who rode in his slipstream but couldn’t round him in the final 25 metres.

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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.

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