Adam Yates wins the Tour de Suisse, João Almeida takes the concluding chrono
Tour de France the next stop for the UAE-Emirates duo
The final stage of the 2024 Tour de Suisse would prove to be as enthralling as the concluding day of the Critérium du Dauphiné a week previous. UAE-Emirates teammates Adam Yates and João Almeida vied for the title, with Almeida winning the day and Yates keeping his yellow jersey. Both riders enjoyed a brace of stage successes and are in great shape to support Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France.
The Course
Using the exact same course as the Tour de Suisse Women’s second stage earlier in the day where Demi Vollering took her second win in a row, the men would roll five flat kilometres before the first intermediate time check. There, the road tilted up to Villars-sur-Ollon for 10.7 km, with a second intermediate time check at the 3.2 km-to-go mark. Many riders did bike changes.
Yates held a lead of 32 seconds over Almeida going into the stage, and he prognosticated after his second stage triumph on Saturday that his Portuguese teammate would probably take a minute back on him.
Adam Yates: “I asked Joao if I can get the stage win and he said yes straight away, he’s always such a nice guy. Tomorrow in the ITT, he’s gonna put almost a minute into me.”
Damn, Joao will reach again that sweet 7 w/kg holy grail tomorrow! 🔥🇵🇹#TDS2024 pic.twitter.com/n0j5CpVYcm— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) June 15, 2024
Neither UAE-Emirates rider had to worry about Egan Bernal rising above them, but Bernal was looking over his shoulder at Mattias Skjelmose, 59 seconds off the Colombian’s final podium spot.
Stephen Williams, who came flying out of the gate in January with a Tour Down Under title before taking La Fleche Wallonne, was on the hotseat with 35:57, or 26.2 km/h. Damiano Caruso cracked this marker with 35:16, but a half hour later Frenchman Lenny Martinez was the first rider to go under 35:00, posting 34:19. He would move up four places from 36th on GC.
Almeida was only 10th and a few seconds slower than Bernal at Time Check 1. Bernal was keeping Skjelmose at bay early in his run as well. Yates lost six seconds to his teammate at that point.
At Time Check 2 fifth-place Matthew Riccitello was holding off sixth-place Enric Mas, who in turn was fending off seventh-place Tom Pidcock. Bernal was 35 seconds slower than Skjelmose. Yates was faster than Almeida by three seconds.
Pidcock knocked Martinez off the hotseat with 34:14. Mas lost sixth to Pidcock the day after losing fifth to Riccitello, who was 13 seconds faster than Pidcock. Skjelmose went tops with 33:44, jumping onto the podium at the expense of Bernal, before Almeida posted 33:23. Yates was only eight seconds slower than his teammate.
2024 Tour de Suisse Stage 8
1) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) 33:23
2) Adam Yates (Great Britain/UAE-Emirates) +0:08
3) Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark/Lidl-Trek) +0:21
2024 Tour de Suisse Final GC
1) Adam Yates (Great Britain/UAE-Emirates) 20:18:49
2) João Almeida (Portugal/UAE-Emirates) +0:22
3) Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark/Lidl-Trek) +3:02
