Break prevails in Gstaad despite Blues’ efforts; Serrano 12th
09 June 2021

Tour de Suisse (st. 4)

Movistar Team attempts, with no other teams helping out, to bring back strong four-man group, with Bissegger (EFN) capturing the win. Big mountains start on Thursday.

The hard work by the Movistar Team to neutralize a strong second breakaway on stage four of the Tour de Suisse -170km from St-Urban to Gstaad- did not find any other cooperation from rival teams as they did on Tuesday to capture Iván García Cortina’s solo action. The Spaniard, playing again as the Blues’ main hope for the day, had full support from the Blues as they went after a four-man move, formed after the original, seven-rider escape was caught, with Rosskopf (RLY), Thomas (GFC), Suter (SUI) and eventual stage winner Stefan Bissegger (EFN).

Johan Jacobs with some bandages after his crash on Tuesday. (c) BettiniPhoto

The efforts from Jacobs, Samitier and Alba to reduce the gap of the break from its day-highest seven minutes -down to 5′- didn’t have any support, other than some turns from Cofidis and race leader Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix, which later left all responsibility on the hands of the Movistar Team. The Spanish outfit would stop its work and Gonzalo Serrano, who got himself into the peloton’s sprint, ended up as best Blue over the line in 12th place.

Cortina and Soler during stage four. (c) BettiniPhoto

The Tour de Suisse will tackle, starting with Thursday’s stage five, the four stages set to be decisive, with consecutive mountain routes -including a tough ITT- that will start with a Cat-1 climb + a stepp finish in Leukerbad. Iván García Cortina, so far the Blue rider most involved at the front for the last few days, remains in 6th overall, as Marc Soler stays 1’10” behind the yellow jersey.

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto

Male Team 06 - 13 Jun

Tour de Suisse SUI

(4th Stage) St. Urban - Gstaad (169.9 km)
  1. 01 Stefan Bissegger EF Education-NIPPO 3h46'21"
  2. 02 Benjamin Thomas Groupama-FDJ "
  3. 03 Joey Rosskopf Rally Cycling "
  4. 12 Gonzalo Serrano Movistar Team +5'16"
  5. 23 Iván García Cortina Movistar Team "
  6. 68 Marc Soler Movistar Team "
  7. 108 Sergio Samitier Movistar Team +6'17"
  8. 109 Héctor Carretero Movistar Team "
  9. 131 Juan Diego Alba Movistar Team +10'43"
  10. 133 Johan Jacobs Movistar Team "
See prov general ranking
  1. 01 Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin-Fenix 12h40'51"
  2. 02 Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck - Quick Step +1"
  3. 03 Stefan Küng Groupama-FDJ +4"
  4. 06 Iván García Cortina Movistar Team +16"
  5. 25 Marc Soler Movistar Team +1'10"
  6. 40 Gonzalo Serrano Movistar Team +2'10"
  7. 90 Sergio Samitier Movistar Team +8'02"
  8. 93 Héctor Carretero Movistar Team +8'22"
  9. 143 Johan Jacobs Movistar Team +29'08"
  10. 148 Juan Diego Alba Movistar Team +32'16"
See stage ranking