For many riders, a time trial is the purest form of racing – no other riders to compete with, open roads and very little to slow them down, so all they have to do is ride hard and post the fastest time they can. This was especially true of today’s final stage of the Tour de Suisse – with the GC race still not settled and the time trial specialists looking to take the stage honours, it was full-on racing from the first rider out of the gate to the last. Having set the day’s provisional fastest time early on, Maciej Bodnar finished the day in fourth position. The UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, confirmed his record seventh black points jersey, and during the race took a record sixteenth stage win. The whole BORA-hansgrohe team could look back on a race where strong performances – both individual and as a team – put them in a good position to ride a strong Tour de France next month.
The Stage
34.1km was all that remained of the 2018 Tour de Suisse, and while some riders would be looking forward to a rest after a demanding nine days of racing, for many there was still everything to race for – whether for those final seconds in the GC race, or for the time trial specialists who would want to go full throttle after more than a week of waiting since the opening day’s team time trial. The course, which as on yesterday’s road stage, would start and finish in Bellinzona, would promote fast times – mostly flat and on smooth roads, although there were a few sections that could catch out the riders if they weren’t paying attention – a short uphill section a few kilometres from the finish, as well as a cobblestone section in the last kilometre among them.
The Team Tactics
With one of the best time trial riders on the BORA-hansgrohe team roster, much of the attention today would be on Maciej Bodnar. The Polish rider had put in some strong performances this season, both in time trials as well as working hard in the peloton, and this stage would give him a chance to stretch his legs. For the rest of the team, in addition to aiming to finish the stage safely, today would represent an excellent opportunity to dial in positions and equipment ahead of the Tour de France.
The Race
Today, it was all about the riders, with no breakaway to chase down and no finale to prepare for. One of the first riders out of the gate was Maciej Bodnar, who set the time to beat, posting a time of 40:10 over the 34.1km course. Taking his place on the stage’s hot seat as the day’s provisional leader, the Polish rider remained unbeaten for most of the day, in spite of others trying their best. With all of the riders home, Maciej took fourth position, while on a race where he took his sixteenth stage victory, the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, confirmed his seventh Tour de Suisse points jersey. Looking back, the whole team had put in strong performances the whole race and were on track for the second Grand Tour of the season – the Tour de France.
Results
01 S.Küng 39:45
02 S.Andersen +0:19
03 T.Van Garderen +0:23
04 M.Bodnar +0:26
05 M.Matthews +0:26
From the Finish Line
“I’m happy with the result today, I feel my legs getting stronger. It was a nice time-trial with a course I liked. I was a bit more conservative in the first part and then made up, pushing harder. I’m still working hard to be in good form for the Tour de France, but first, I’ll race in the Polish National Championship, next Friday.” – Maciej Bodnar
“I think we can be overall satisfied with our results and performance at the Tour de Suisse. We had a goal to win at least a stage and we achieved that with Peter, who was also very close to victory in all the sprints he fought for. Today, Maciej Bodnar rode a strong individual time-trial, taking fourth against some of the world’s top specialists. Gregor Mülhberger also showed a solid performance on the mountains and the team as a whole worked very well, in cohesion. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to reach our GC goals with Patrick Konrad but this isn’t an issue. He came straight from a very tough Giro where he contributed to the team’s successes, so he wasn’t at his top form. In my view, we are on the right track for the Tour de France and we look forward to it.” – Enrico Poitschke, Sports Director
