Tour de Suisse (st. 8)

Rui Costa concludes penultimate stage in Switzerland unnoticed as Sagan (CAN) takes the win; Portuguese to start Sunday's mountain TT up the Flumserberg with the GC victory in sight

There were no changes on stage eight of the 2013 Tour de Suisse, a mere transfer of 182 kilometers between Zernez and Bad Ragaz where Slovak Peter Sagan (CAN) outsprinted a large field with his usual power against the fastest men in the peloton. Rui Costa and the rest of the Movistar Team came safely into the bunch after a day of serene vigilance between the six riders that, unless any major surprises come up, should fight for the last yellow jersey at the 25-kilometer ITT up the Flumserberg -15k of flat, 10k of hard climbing.-

Costa will roll down the start ramp with only one of his five rivals ahead in the standings: local Mathias Frank (BMC), the race leader since last Monday, by 13 seconds. The competition will be really hard behind, with Kreuziger (TST), Pinot (FDJ), Mollema (BLA) and Van Garderen (BMC) within a minuve of distance by the telephone squad’s leader, looking forward to take his second consecutive overall victory in the race after the brilliant success in 2012.

TIME GAPS BEFORE THE TT
1. Frank (BMC) -13″
2. Rui Costa (Movistar Team)
3. Kreuziger (TST) +10″
4. Pinot (FDJ) +31″
5. Mollema (BLA) +33″
6. Van Garderen (BMC) +1’04”
7. D. Martin (GRS) +1’10”
8. Kangert (AST) +1’30”
9. Spilak (KAT) +1’37” 
10. C. Meyer (OGE) +1’56”