{"id":8239,"date":"2025-06-18T17:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=8239"},"modified":"2025-07-07T17:54:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:54:58","slug":"exciting-tour-de-suisse-heads-for-mountain-climax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2025\/06\/18\/exciting-tour-de-suisse-heads-for-mountain-climax\/","title":{"rendered":"Exciting Tour de Suisse Heads for Mountain Climax"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second Tour de France\u2013preparation stage race, the Tour de Suisse, kicked off on Sunday, the day the first Tour-prep race, the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, ended. The first race was the one with all the Tour favorites: Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), as well as the great Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Tour de Suisse doesn\u2019t boast such superstars, but it does have another potential Tour-podium favorite in Ben O\u2019Connor (Jayco AlUla). Other than that, it is a showcase for Tour de France domestiques, such as Poga\u010dar lieutenant Jo\u00e3o Almeida, and potential Tour stage winners, such as Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Romain Gr\u00e9goire (Groupama-FDJ), and K\u00e9vin Vauquelin (Ark\u00e9a\u2013B&B Hotels).<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean that it is an inferior race. On the contrary, it might even be more competitive \u2013 and therefore more exciting \u2013 than the Dauphin\u00e9, which was dominated by Poga\u010dar (who became the last winner of a race called the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 because, starting next year, it will be called the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes, race organizers ASO announced<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The first three stages were thrilling, with a faux pas on stage 1 by UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG, who let a strong breakaway get away and were then unable or otherwise incapable of chasing it down. This led to an impressive victory by the 22-year-old Gr\u00e9goire, 20 seconds ahead of another Frenchman, Vauquelin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always something really special to win at the WorldTour level, so I\u2019m really, really happy,\u201d said Gr\u00e9goire, who won a stage of the Vuelta two years ago. More important for the GC, O\u2019Connor was part of the breakaway and, though he faded and finished 1:07 behind the winner, crossed the line 2:12 ahead of Almeida. The heavy rain that swamped the roads was no doubt a factor in UAE\u2019s inability to muster the speed to catch the break.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Tour de Suisse Men & Women (@tourdesuisse_official)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n