Tour De Suisse 2016: Stage 5 Winner, General Classification and Highlights
BMC's Darwin Atapuma grabbed his first stage win of the 2016 Tour de Suisse on Wednesday with a wonderful solo effort after a full day of climbing.
The Colombian was part of an early break and attacked his fellow leaders during the final climb, beating the bunch by mere seconds. Warren Barguil of Giant-Alpecin took second place, while AG2R La Mondiale's Pierre-Roger Latour is the new race leader.
Here's a look at the stage results, per the Tour de Suisse's official Twitter account:
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The current general classification:
| 1 | Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 18:04:54 |
| 2 | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | Same Time |
| 3 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:05 |
| 4 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin | 0:00:16 |
| 5 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:18 |
Recap
After four relatively flat days, the peloton finally got its first taste of the high mountains on Wednesday, with three categorised climbs on the schedule. The final climb toward Cari, Switzerland, had the potential to shake up the classification, although most pundits expected the favourites to eye one of the stages later this week.
As shared by BMC Racing Team, the riders would cross the 2,000-metres barrier twice on Wednesday:
Team IAM Cycling shared these images of the Furkapass, one of the climbs the riders would face:
As expected, a host of riders tried their luck with an early break, knowing there was a chance the favourites would take a conservative approach to Stage 5, with more climbing on the schedule.
A total of 24 riders broke early, but the group didn't contain any of the favourites for the general classification, although Atapuma and Lotto Soudal's Tim Wellens are gifted climbers.
Poor weather conditions have plagued the Tour de Suisse so far, and Wednesday was no different. On several occasions, short showers hit the peloton and kept the roads slippery. With two technical descents on the horizon, the rain only increased the chances for a major crash.
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ) and Karel Hnik (VAT) were the first to go down, and both dropped out of the race.
The peloton kept the leaders relatively close, and Cannondale's Joe Dombrowski was the first man to attack at the front as the stage broke open. Atapuma looked particularly strong, and his efforts forced the peloton to speed up in order to keep track of the leaders. As a result, Tinkoff-Saxo's Peter Sagan, who came into the stage as the overall leader, was dropped.
Meanwhile, Deadspin's Patrick Redford noticed the riders were doing everything they could to keep warm during the tricky descents:
"Phillipe Gilbert (b. 1208) became the first medieval knight to compete in the Tour De Suisse today. pic.twitter.com/zOhcxLIt7M
— patrick (@patrickredford) June 15, 2016"
At the front, Winner Anacona Gomez of Movistar and Natnael Berhane of Dimension Data joined Wellens and Atapuma, with the peloton chasing in the background. Berhane attacked first when the group hit the climb before Anacona tried to push the pace.
But it was Atapuma who found the gap with less than eight kilometres to go, dropping Anacona and building a quick 20-second lead. VeloNews' Andrew Hood liked his chances of grabbing the stage:
By the time his former companions were caught by what remained of the bunch, his lead was one minute. The focus now shifted to the GC battle, as Barguil made the first push.
As the pace increased, Atapuma's lead became less and less safe. BMC's Tejay van Garderen showed no mercy for his team-mate by placing an attack of his own, and only a handful of riders were able to follow the American.
Another Barguil attack brought him within 10 seconds of Atapuma, but the Colombian managed to stay ahead of the Frenchman by a few seconds and take the stage win. In the background, Van Garderen took a handful of seconds on his main rivals, which was the cherry on top of an excellent day for BMC.
Procyclingnews.eu didn't like the American's ride, however:
The American almost cost his team-mate the stage win, and in all likelihood, there will be some choice words between the two when the team arrives at their hotel.
Per BMC's official website, Atapuma explained what went through his head when he attacked on the final climb:
"I knew it was possible to win but I needed to stay focused. I had good legs, the others had dropped and I know the climb well. I was waiting for the right moment to attack and when I went I managed to develop a good gap, and it paid off. I had to dig deep in the final kilometer as I knew there were riders getting closer. But I just wanted the win so badly.
"
Latour finished seven seconds behind Atapuma but took a handful of bonus seconds throughout the stage, and he'll start Thursday's ride in the leader's jersey.
More climbing is in store for the peloton on Thursday, as the relatively short stage toward Amden will cross two categorised climbs, including an uphill finish. The final ascent will give the favourites yet another chance to shake up the general classification.
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