João Almeida beats teammate Adam Yates in shortened Tour de Suisse mountain stage
Two UAE-Emirates riders in engrossing title fight
The Tour de Suisse’s third consecutive day in the mountains was a brief one, Friday’s Stage 6 having been radically truncated before the race began on Sunday. Over the course of 55:13, second place João Almeida beat UAE-Emirates teammate and race leader Adam Yates at the top of the Blatten climb to edge closer to the top of the GC with two days to go.
The Course
Stage 6 was supposed to be 151 km long and contain HC-rated Nüfenenpass, but before the Tour de Suisse started the queen stage was cut down to 42.5 km, still finishing on the Blatten climb, because Nüfenenpass is impassable due to large amounts of snow. Such a stingy course would make for some interesting racing; the winning time would be under an hour.
Today’s #TourdeSuisse stage 6 has been shortened to 42 kilometers and will start at 3PM. pic.twitter.com/uj9UfCHAri
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) June 14, 2024
Three riders dashed away at the start line, but predictably they were only allowed a short leash. They hit 8.8 percent Blatten with a minute’s advantage. Ineos took up the pace making but once more UAE-Emirates grabbed the front. Frank van den Broek was the last refugee on the slopes.
With 3.5 km remaining, Yates made a surge and moved past van den Broek. Almeida was a passenger in an Egan Bernal and Mattias Skjelmose chase group.
Almeida made it over to his teammate with 900 meters to climb. The Portuguese dropped the Brit and took the day’s Swiss watch, cutting his deficit to Yates to 27 seconds.
Saturday’s penultimate stage sets four climbs evenly across 118.2 km, with Cat. 1 Villars-sur-Orlon ascended twice, the second time as a summit finish.
2024 Tour de Suisse Stage 6
1) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) 55:13
2) Adam Yates (Great Britain/UAE-Emirates) +0:04
3) Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark/Lidl-Trek) +0:09
2024 Tour de Suisse GC
1) Adam Yates (Great Britain/UAE-Emirates) 16:39:46
2) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) +0:27
3) Egan Bernal (Colombia/Ineos Grenadiers) +1:28
