Tour de Suisse 2016: Stage 7 Winner, Latest Standings and Highlights

Tejay van Garderen of BMC Racing Team won Stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse on Friday as former yellow jersey holder Pierre Latour quit the race.

The 27-year-old American winner prevailed on the queen stage of the competition—a 224.3-kilometre ride with a high-altitude summit finish at the Rettenbach Glacier above Solden.

Colombian ace Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana Pro Team claimed second as Frenchman Warren Barguil grabbed third—and the yellow jersey for Giant-Alpecin as the new general classification leader.

The Tour de Suisse confirmed the winner:

Here are the latest stage results and new general classifications, according to the race's official Twitter feed:

Stage 7 Recap

With a day of huge climbing ahead, the racing field were initially unconvinced by a brisk pace from the start.

BMC Racing Team provided details of the latest mountain stage:

The peloton strolled to the early uncategorised mountain pass intact from Arbon, but the riders knew it paled into insignificance compared to the final climb of the day, with its punishing 10 per cent gradient.

There was a keen two-man breakaway of Mathias Brandle and Iljo Keisse, who was also present in the Stage 6 attack on Thursday.

The gap quickly ballooned for the front two at the 40-kilometre point, with eight minutes of distance between the lead and the chasing pack.

Mountains classification leader Antwan Tolhoek of Roompot appeared motivated to get involved with the leaders but was lost in the peloton as he looked for position.

Tolhoek eventually caught the pair, and the trio had a nine-minute lead over the rest of the field. The gap was soon 12 minutes, but with none of the leaders within half an hour of Wilco Kelderman's overall time, their GC threat was minimal.

The race provided footage of the stage, per its official Twitter feed:

As expected, Tolhoek took maximum KOM points from the leading riders, as Brandle and Keisse laboured slightly.

There was no real urgency from the peloton as they shaved a couple of minutes off the stage lead at the Arlbergpass.

News broke former Suisse leader Latour had opted to retire after struggling on the final climb on Thursday, as Oscar Gatto of Tinkoff joined the young Frenchman and also ended his race.

Latour lost nearly a minute to the GC favourites on Stage 6 but was still lying sixth overall at the start of Friday. 

LottoNL-Jumbo amassed at the front of the peloton, keeping things under control for race leader Kelderman with 30 kilometres of racing ahead. Giant-Alpecin and Cannondale remained prominent in a largely relaxed drive forward.

LIONEL BONAVENTURE/Getty Images

Brandle edged away at his own rhythm and opened up a substantial lead on Keisse. Stage 6 winner Pieter Weening was clearly suffering after Thursday's heroics, lagging behind the chasing pack.

Brandle continued to plough on but was now only five minutes ahead of the peloton as the GC contenders upped their cadence in pursuit.

As the riders hit the big gradients, Brandle began to concede minutes, prompting an attack from Matvey Makykin of Katusha and a fragmented peloton.

Brandle's lead all but vanished in next to no time as Belarusian Vasil Kiryienka took charge of the stage, followed by Geraint Thomas of Team Sky. Van Garderen was the next man to attack as the field began to suffer because of the hellish gradients, and Kelderman couldn't maintain his pace.

The American timed his push to perfection, off his saddle as he built a telling lead. Van Garderen knew he had done enough to claim the stage win as his competition faltered in the final kilometre, winning with a comfortable gap.