After two tough mountain stages, on Thursday, the Tour de Suisse continues with a new parade through the Swiss cols. While the past two stages were around 150 kilometers long, the third stage is a whopping 211 kilometers long. IDLProCycling.com takes you along!
The riders will start quite early on Thursday, around quarter to eleven, due to the long distance and the number of climbs to conquer. From the starting point in Fiesch, there are about twenty flat kilometers ahead before the first climb appears: the Furkapass.
With a length of 16.5 kilometers and an average gradient of 6.4 percent, we quickly ascend to an altitude of 2,433 meters before descending to Andermatt. There, we still have to conquer the Oberalpass (10.7 kilometers at 5.6 percent), so the first seventy kilometers of this stage can by no means be described as easy.
After crossing that last summit, we'll encounter a sort of intermediate phase that will last for about a hundred kilometers. Starting from the intermediate sprint in Surava, the road runs up again towards the Albulapass. This climb is 17.4 kilometers long, with an average gradient of 6.8 percent, reaching an altitude of 2,312 meters. Afterwards, there's a ten-kilometer descent until La Punt.
By the way, La Punt is a well-known finish in the Tour de Suisse. In 2010, Robert Gesink claimed victory there, and later Rui Costa (2013) and Domenico Pozzovivo (2017) also won in La Punt. The first two of these riders are participating in this edition as well.
With two hors categorie climbs and one first category climb, the Tour de Suisse is likely to start showing differences in the rankings in this queen stage, although there have been whispers this week that some adjustments may need to be made to the route.
Times
Start: 10:43 a.m.
Finish: approximately 4:42 p.m.
At night, temperatures on top of the Furkapass drop to around freezing point, but during the day, it is about 10 degrees Celsius and sunny. In the starting point of Fiesch (21 degrees) and the finishing point of La Punt (17 degrees), the weather is also pleasant.
To assess the favorites for this fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, we can look at the results of Wednesday's tough mountain stage. In that stage, Austrian climber Felix Gall, representing AG2R Citroën Team, impressively dominated the race. He secured the leader's jersey with a solo effort of twenty kilometers. However, he will need to gain more time on the competitors who excel in time trials if he aims to secure the overall victory.
Among those strong time trialists, we include Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo), both of whom we noticed were racing very tactically. This ultimately led to their second and third-place finishes on Wednesday, which once again makes them part of the favorites for Thursday's stage.
Heading towards La Punt involves descending, and traditionally, we should also keep an eye on Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM), who excel in downhill riding as much as they do uphill. Cian Uijtdebroeks (BORA-hansgrohe), Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma), and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny) also managed to hold their ground in the chasing group behind Gall on Wednesday.
Furthermore, Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates), Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), Maximilian Schachmann (BORA-hansgrohe), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), and Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost) are still relatively well positioned in the general classification, but that limits their freedom of action.
Some classic-style riders may also try to pull something off, whether through a breakaway or otherwise. Alex Aranburu (Movistar) showed impressive climbing abilities on Wednesday, and the Spanish rider usually performs excellently on demanding descents, as do his teammate Gorka Izagirre and Tom Pidcock of INEOS Grenadiers. Marc Hirschi, representing UAE-Team Emirates, could also attempt something, especially considering Ayuso's less-than-optimal form.
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Sergio Higuita (BORA-hansgrohe), Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Ben Tulett (INEOS Grenadiers) are also riders to keep an eye on.
Top favorites: Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM)
Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma)
Longshots: Cian Uijtdebroeks (BORA-hansgrohe), Alex Aranburu (Movistar), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), Juan Ayuso, Marc Hirschi (both UAE-Team Emirates), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny)
Tom van der Salm (Twitter: @TomvanderSalm) | email: t.vandersalm@indeleiderstrui.nl)
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