They did it again! The UAE Team Emirates duo dominated again on the penultimate day of the Tour de Suisse 2024, as Britain’s Adam Yates took the stage win, escorted by teammate João Almeida, over a 118.2-kilometer course.
On a day full of climbs around Villars-sur-Ollon, Yates and Almeida were the strongest in a battle between the men in the general classification. Thus, the Arab team continued a very successful week on Swiss soil.
As for the Latin Americans, the best placed were the Colombians, with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in sixth place, 16 seconds behind the duo of the super-powerful Arabian squad. Then came another Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) closing the top 15; while Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers) finished 18th and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) 21st.
The penultimate stage of the Italian race, with more than 3,000 meters of elevation gain, was again a day for pure climbers. On the out-and-back to Villars-sur-Ollon, the riders were presented with the categorized climbs of the Col de la Croix (17.1 km at 7.1%) and the final climb to Villars-sur-Ollon (8.6 km at 8%).
The breakaway of the day was led by Colombian Einer Rubio (Movistar), who was accompanied by Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale), Finlay Pickering (Bahrain-Victorious), Johannes Staune-Mittet (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jan Chirsten (UAE Emirates), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny) and Harold Martin Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan), but in the end they were all caught by the group of favorites.
The Swiss race will conclude on Sunday with the eighth stage, a 15.7-kilometer individual time trial between Aigle and Villars-sur-Ollon, which will have an uphill finish.
Tour de Suiza (2.UWT)
Results Stage 7 | Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon (118,2 km)
| 1 | Adam Yates | UAE Team Emirates | 3:05:41 |
| 2 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | ,, |
| 3 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel – Premier Tech | 0:14 |
| 4 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:16 |
| 5 | Mattias Skejlmose | Lidl – Trek | ,, |
| 6 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | ,, |
| 7 | Oscar Onley | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | ,, |
| 8 | Thomas Pidcock | INEOS Grenadiers | ,, |
| 9 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 0:32 |
| 10 | Enric Mas | Movistar Team | 0:35 |
Ranking General
| 1 | Adam Yates | UAE Team Emirates | 19:45:17 |
| 2 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | 0:31 |
| 3 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:51 |
| 4 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl – Trek | 2:50 |
| 5 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel – Premier Tech | 3:02 |
| 6 | Enric Mas | Movistar Team | 3:23 |
| 7 | Thomas Pidcock | INEOS Grenadiers | 3:54 |
| 8 | Oscar Onley | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 4:03 |
| 9 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 4:41 |
| 10 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 4:59 |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico