Quintana 9th overall as Dauphiné ends; Blues strong in first hilly Suisse stage
16 June 2019

Sunday's WorldTour roundup

Carlos Verona early into break, eventually in support for Colombian as 'Cóndor' reaches last finish in Champéry into GC group. Five Movistar Team at 60-man peloton pursuing Luis León Sánchez (AST) in Switzerland.

A Sunday with plenty of climbs and fast speeds for the two men’s squads the Movistar Team was deploying at the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse… which coincidentally rode on the same Helvetic roads. The French Alpine course was getting to its last finish line in Champéry with a 113km that featured up to seven rated ascents, the first three of which helped build a winning 13-man break including stage victor Dylan Van Baarle (INS).

Carlos Verona was part of a leading group which ammassed a gap near five minutes over a bunch where Astana controlled the pace to secure overall success with Jakob Fuglsang – as GC-second Adam Yates (MTS) abandoned with health issues. With almost no major moves between the race contenders -only an attack from Thibaut Pinot (GFC) made the peloton pick up the pace-, Nairo Quintana, well protected by Fernández and Verona himself near the end, finished with no setbacks in 9th place overall, 1’24” behind the winner.

Carretero crosses the finish line on stage two of the Tour de Suisse. (c) Werner Jacobs / BettiniPhoto

Vuelta a Suiza: Five Movistar Team riders into early selection

More to the east, at Langnau im Emmental, was held a well-balanced circuit -159km and three laps over the Schallenberg (Cat-2) and Chuderhüsi (Cat-2) climbs before a gentle descent towards the end- on stage two of the Tour de Suisse. Luis León Sánchez (AST) took advantage from the lack of firepower at the group after the ascents to jump off the front and hold off the sprinters’ teams to take a famous victory de etapa.

With barely twenty riders –Marc Soler and Carlos Betancur from the Movistar Team within those- staying together after the final climb, the group’s reaction lacked strength and Peter Sagan (BOH) was only able to lead the group home (+6″) in second, a slightly bigger selection of sixty men also featuring Anacona, Mas and Carretero. Winner remains the top Blue in the GC –12th, 19″ behind new yellow jersey Asgreen (DQT)- before a clearer chance for the fastmen, with an uphill finish, in Murten on Monday (162km).

Stage 2 results / More info on the 2019 Tour de Suisse

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto